


Hayffie Week 2015

by sssssssim



Category: The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hayffie Week, hayffie week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-17 00:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4645746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A stand alone drabble, every day, for the next week!</p><p>The themes will be these:<br/>1. Inspired By a Song<br/>2. The Kids<br/>3. Capitol VS Twelve<br/>4. AU<br/>5. Angst<br/>6. District 13<br/>7. Fluff</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day one: Inspired by a Song
> 
>  
> 
> [After the Storm, by Mumford and Sons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqUsAHTUPTU)

Haymitch doesn’t really understand how it came to happen, but one minute Hazelle Hawthorne cornered him in a hallway and, quite frankly, scared him a bit; and the next second, Haymitch had his arms full of the youngest Hawthorne, Posy. And he was late for command.

Well, shit.

☆

He didn’t miss the way everybody froze when he entered command. Granted, he had a toddler on his shoulders, who was wearing a pink tshirt and had her hair up in two pony tails, and Posy was quite busy braiding Haymitch’s hair.

While most people were highly amused, Effie looked … disappointed, for some reason Haymitch couldn’t begin to comprehend. But she was also the only one to come to his side.

‘And who is this?’, Effie asked sweetly.

‘Posy Hawthorne’, Haymitch grumbled, and he saw understanding in Effie’s eyes. She also sighed, seemingly relieved, which, again, didn’t make a lot of sense to him.

‘And you’re babysitting?’, Effie went on, a smirk on her lips.

‘Her mother is surprisingly scary.’

Of course, Posy tugged on his hair a bit too hard then, making Haymitch yelp and the whole room ended up in a fit of giggles, no matter how much he glared and grumbled profanities under his breath.

‘Posy, sweetheart’, Effie finally said, grabbing a hold of her hands and stilling them, even if they were still in his hair. ‘Haymitch has to work now, so how about you and me go sit down, and do some drawing.’

Posy slapped her little hands on top of Haymitch’s head. ‘You have paper?’, she shrieked.

‘Yes, well, not a lot’, Effie winked. ‘But I’m willing to share.’

‘Can I, Mister Haymitch?’, Posy asked then, gently pushing her fingers to his beard. ‘Pretty please?’

‘Oh course’, Haymitch put her down on the floor. ‘But you be good to Effie, okay? And quiet, we do have work to do.’

Posy nodded, clearly excited, and boldly grabbed a hold of Effie’s hand. Haymitch saw her surprise, but it didn’t take long before she smiled down at the kid jumping up and down by her side and guided her to the far side of the table.

Haymitch forgot she was even there for the next two hours, but when Plutarch dismissed him, he had to stifle a laugh. Posy was asleep with her head on the table, various papers and crayons laid around her, and Effie was sitting next to her. In one hand, she had a tablet, and she was avidly reading something off of it, but her other hand was absently petting Posy’s hair, which was now free of her pony tails.

Haymitch wordlessly picked Posy up, and she woke up, just enough to wrap her hands around his neck and snuggle to his chest.

‘Let’s put you to bed’, he whispered to her. ‘Can’t have you drooling on the command table, can we?’

‘I don’t drool.’, she mumbled, and Haymitch had to stifle a laugh.

He was half way through to the Hawthorne’s bunk when he realized that Effie was following him. Though, he was thankful she did, especially when it came to changing Posy into pajamas and tucking her in.

‘Mama always sings me a lullaby’, Posy batted her eyelashes at Effie, and it took all of Haymitch’s strength to not laugh on the terrified expression on her face.

‘I don’t know any of your lullabies’, Effie finally said. ‘I didn’t grow up in your District. Maybe Haymitch-‘

‘Haymitch does not sing’, he interrupted her, sternly. Effie glared, but it was gone quickly, especially when Posy put both of her little hands on her face and asked her again.

‘Well, maybe I can think of something, since you have been so well mannered today.’

Posy grinned and pulled the covers up to her neck, making herself comfortable.

Before she started singing, though, Effie looked at Haymitch for a long while. He didn’t understand what she was looking for, and he didn’t understand what she was thinking. Because Effie had a very sad look in her eyes, a look he has never seen before, in the years they had worked together.

But he didn’t look away.

Finally, Effie smiled, looking incredibly shy. When she turned to Posy, she started petting her hair and started [singing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqUsAHTUPTU), in a very soft voice.

> And after the storm,  
>  I run and run as the rains come  
>  And I look up, I look up  
>  On my knees and out of luck, I look up

Haymitch frowned. For one, because Effie didn’t have that bad of a voice. And secondly, because the song seemed weird.

> Night has always pushed up day  
>  You must know life to see decay  
>  But I won’t rot, I won’t rot  
>  Not this mind and not this heart,  
>  I won’t rot

That sounded like Effie. Who, despite being surrounded by murder and gore every Hunger Games, despite having to send two children to the slaughter every year, always came out of it with her head held high and a smile on her lips.

> And I took you by the hand  
>  And we stood tall,  
>  And remembered out own land,  
>  What we lived for

And Haymitch was there with her, every step of the way. For years.

> There will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears  
>  And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears  
>  Get over your hill and see what you find there  
>  With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

She kept him sane, during the Games. As sane as possible, at least. It just took him a long time to realize it.

> Now I cling to what I knew  
>  I saw exactly what was true  
>  But oh no more  
>  That’s why I hold  
>  That’s why I hold with all I have  
>  That’s why I hold

Posy was asleep by now, but Effie didn’t stop singing, even if it was clear that she was holding back tears.

> And I won’t die alone and be left there  
>  Well I guess I’ll just go home  
>  Or god knows where  
>  Because death is just so full and man so small  
>  Well I’m scared of what’s behind and what’s before

Effie probably never said words that were truer than these ones. But Haymitch couldn’t help but wonder what was her home now. Where?

> And there will come a time you’ll see, with no more tears  
>  And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears  
>  Get over you hill and see what you find there  
>  With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

They were both silent for a while, after Effie stopped singing. Haymitch’s mind was whirling, with so many thoughts and questions, but he settled on a single one, that seemed the most important at the moment.

‘That didn’t sound like a Capitol approved song.’, he whispered, thankfully not waking Posy up.

Effie smiled, a bit, as she wiped at her eyes.

‘It’s not’, she said, finally turning to look at Haymitch. It didn’t last long, her eyes going to Posy again, but she did start explaining.

‘My father was a historian, and his passion was the time before the Dark Days.  In his travels, he found this device, an archaic way of playing music. It was called a record player, and the records were large, black circles. I never understood the science behind it, but I liked the songs.’

She took a few seconds to collect her thoughts before she continued.

‘He wasn’t allowed to keep them, but he did.’, she smiled then. ‘A wonderful act of rebellion, I should say. And, of course, my parents were killed in an accidental fire that most likely wasn’t an accident on the year I started working as an Escort, so most of the records were lost. I had a few, at my apartment, but… who knows what happened to them now?’

It took a while for Haymitch to manage to say something.

‘It’s a great song.’, he settled on.

‘Yes’, Effie smiled at him. ‘Quite uplifting.’

Haymitch wrinkled his nose. ‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘Oh, but it is’, she smiled wider, looking back to Posy. ‘Kept me sane during all those Games. Gave me hope when I shouldn’t have had any. It is a great song.’

Neither of them had anything more to say.

Half an hour later, after Hazelle came back, Haymitch wordlessly walked Effie to her quarters, but she stopped him from leaving, with a soft hand on his arm.

‘We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?’, she looked scared, unusually so. ‘This war, it’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? For the kids? Not the ones we lost, not the ones we’re losing, but for the kids we aren’t going to lose anymore.’

Haymitch sighed, but it an equally unusual act of kindness, he wiped away Effie’s wet cheeks and brought her to his chest.

She gasped, slightly, when she realized that Haymitch was hugging her, but she did relax quickly enough.

‘We’re doing the right thing’, Haymitch said, willing conviction into his voice. ‘I’m not sure if the way is right, but we’re doing the right thing. Now come on.’

He pulled away, still keeping  a hand on her neck.

‘Back straight, chin up, attitude.’

Those were very weird words coming out of Haymitch’s mouth. But he has spent years hearing her say them, they were drilled into his brain by this point.

And they did the job, considering Effie smiled, and she lifted her head up.

Haymitch smirked, how could he not, even if he put some distance between them.

‘Don’t let Plutarch hear you sing that song, princess, he’ll make it even more important than The Hanging Tree.’

Effie rolled her eyes, even if she was smiling. She told him goodnight and went into her room without looking back.

Haymitch, however, stood in front of her locked door an embarrassing about of time.

He thought of every time Effie surprised him. There were quite a few times, over the years, and it was always when Effie showed a sign of… humanity, that he was so unused to seeing in the Capitol.

She got attached to some of the tributes, crying when they died. She tried to find out their favorite food on the first day, and made sure to always have it on the table. When there were young children, close to the age of 12, she held them while they cried. She was always kind to them, when the cameras were off. And she always tried to keep Haymitch in check, making sure he was doing his job, training the kids as much as he could.

And, really, after years of that, Effie singing a forbidden song to an adorable child shouldn’t have surprised him. But it did.

Haymitch didn’t have time to think about it too much, though. They were in the middle of a war and Katniss was waiting for him in command.

He’ll think about it when the war is over. He’ll think about her.

After the storm, indeed.


	2. The Kids are Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day two: The Kids  
> Things changed after Katniss and Peeta were reaped. Effie changed, as well. It just took Haymitch a while to realize it.

 

Thinking back, Haymitch really underestimated Effie, especially after she reaped Katniss and Peeta.

☆

Just an hour after the Reaping, when Effie came to get him from the bar car, she very pointedly took the whisky bottle away from his hands.

‘She volunteered’, Effie said in a stern voice, ‘and he has wider shoulders than all the victors we got in the past 5 years, combined! Go help them.’

It surprised Haymitch, but in the end, he figured he was just doing her job.

☆

When they got to the Capitol, Effie was very surprised by the low amount of alcohol Haymitch was drinking. She said as much. Of course, Haymitch didn’t indulge her in actually answering, but he did notice the way she always made sure he had a warm cup of coffee in his hands.

☆

After Katniss shot an arrow at the game makers, Effie was angry, mad, disappointed. Haymitch didn’t expect any less.

However, what he didn’t expect, was for Effie to corner him late at night after the scores were revealed.

‘It’s going to get her sponsors, the high score’, she said, whispered really, in a dark corner of the penthouse. ‘But it’s also going to put a target on her back.’

‘That’s the way things go, yes.’, Haymitch said, with no traces of kindness.

‘Damn’, Effie breathed out, and it was the first time he had ever heard her swear. Then, her features hardened and she straightened her back.

‘We’ll do whatever we can for her.’

It wasn’t a question. So Haymitch didn’t answer, he just nodded. Effie left without saying anything more.

☆

‘She needs water’, Effie all but yelled at him, but Haymitch wouldn’t budge.

‘She’s close’, he argued for what felt like the billionth time. ‘She’s very close.’

‘She asked for it, Haymitch’, Effie said in a much lower voice, much softer. He didn’t have to turn around to know that there were tears in her eyes.

‘And because she did, and because I won’t send any, she’ll figure it out and she’ll get water.’ After a beat, he added a much more softer ‘Trust me’.

She deflated at that, completely, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

‘You know I do’, was the only thing she said, shocking Haymitch into silence.

Did she? Did she really? Why would she trust him?

He never gave her any reason to.

☆

She only tried once, to get him to send medicine to Peeta. When he argued that he couldn’t save them both, either way, Effie visibly faltered.

‘Of course not’, she sighed. ‘The rules are the rules.’ Then, she shook her head, and didn’t look at Haymitch as she said the next words.

‘What horrible choices you have to make.’

Haymitch didn’t really think of it, because he had an idea.

☆

When Haymitch returned from his meeting with Crane, Effie was watching him like a hawk. It took an hour for her to get him alone, and it happened just as they announced the rule change.

Effie gasped, and for some reason, Haymitch watched her intently.

‘You did this?’, she whispered, not taking her eyes away from the screen, where they were still following Katniss, on her way to Peeta.

‘Yes’, Haymitch answered with no infliction in his tone, but it still made Effie grab a hold of his hand, squeezing his fingers a little too rough for it to be comfortable.

☆

When both their tributes won, Effie played the part, as did he.

They screamed in delight, they hugged, they shook hands with the sponsors, she even cried.

But Effie was completely silent on the car drive to the hospital, and she stopped him, before they went in.

‘They’re going to be upset with her, won’t they?’

Haymitch’s jaw dropped, but she just rolled her eyes.

‘I’m not stupid’, Effie all but hissed. ‘And I’m only as ignorant as I need to be.’

It took a long while for Haymitch to recover, to understand what she was saying, what she was implying.

‘Yes’, he said. ‘They’re going to be… upset.’

‘Let them know’, Effie said, strongly. ‘They still have to do the recap and there’s the Victor’s Tour.’

She went into the hospital without saying another word, completely ignoring the fact that she turned Haymitch’s world upside down.

☆

During the Victory Tour, Effie completely ignored Haymitch. Which was fine by him, because she was obsessively focused on Katniss and Peeta.

However, he saw it clearly, that after every district, it was harder for her to keep up pretenses, to ignore the Peacemakers, to ignore the riots, to keep the children safe and sane.

At the party held in District 4, Finnick was there. And for a reason Haymitch didn’t dare think about, he spend quite a bit of time with Effie. She was polite about it, but at one point, she very pointedly marched up to Haymitch, and barked out that she needed some air.

Haymitch followed her, of course he did, he even steered her into a part of the garden that he knew, from Finnick, wasn’t bugged.

He told her as much, but Effie didn’t say anything, not for a while. She just paced, anxiously wringing her fingers, pulling at her wig a couple of times, and closing her eyes tightly every other minute.

‘Princess’, Haymitch finally said, making her stop and turn to look at him, ‘what’s wrong?’

‘Everything’, she all but hissed out. ‘And I can’t do anything. My victors are being emotionally tortured, and I just have to sit back and make sure it goes soothingly.’

‘This is how it has to be’, Haymitch said, willing his voice to be softer.

‘I know’, Effie sighed. ‘I just don’t know how much longer they can take it.’

‘They’re strong’, he didn’t hesitate in saying. ‘They made it this far, it’ll be alright.’

‘Of course’, she said, nodding along, probably willing herself to believe it. ‘It will be alright, they’ll be alright.’

Effie took a deep breath and straightened her back. She sounded more like herself when she spoke next.

‘Now, please speak with Finnick. I really am not interested in anything he’s offering.’

Haymitch blanched at that. ‘He offered?’

Effie pulled a face. ‘Repeatedly. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but something definitely is.’

Yeah, Haymitch thought. He wants to know if you’d  join the Rebellion.

Of course, he didn’t say that out loud.

☆

When Effie said goodbye to Katniss and Peeta after the Victory Tour, she was sobbing.

Peeta tried to calm her down, saying that they’ll see her in a little while, for the wedding preparations, but she didn’t stop crying.

When they were left alone, Haymitch wordlessly handed her his handkerchief.

‘You take care of them’, she said sternly after loudly blowing her nose. ‘They’re going to need you.’

‘I’ll do my best’, Haymitch shrugged.

‘I don’t want you to do your best’, Effie stepped closer to him, until he was forced to look straight into her eyes. ‘I want you to take care of them.’

‘They have each other’, Haymitch shrugged. ‘And their families. They’ll be okay.’

Effie let out a noise of pure frustration, then, and turned around to leave. However, she turned back around after two steps, wordlessly kissing Haymitch’s cheek.

She left without saying anything more, and really, Haymitch was glad for it. He couldn’t handle her anymore, not like this.

☆

Contrary to every expectation, Haymitch didn’t get dead drunk after the Quell was announced. He left that to Katniss.

So when his phone rang, late, very late at night, he was awake enough to answer it.

‘I am so sorry’, Effie’s voice came through, and she was crying, of course she was.

‘Yeah’, was all Haymitch could say.

‘How are they?’

‘Begging’, he sighed, lowering himself to the floor. ‘For me to save the other one.’

‘And what-’, her voice broke, ‘what are you going to do?’

‘It all depends on what you pull out of that bowl, princess.’

It really was the worst thing to say, and Haymitch realized it too late. Effie cried harder at that, and she didn’t stop for a while. They didn’t speak, but Haymitch didn’t hang up the phone, he just spent a good hour listening to Effie crying.

When she managed to calm down a bit, she whimpered before speaking.

‘I’ll come by early before the Reaping.’, she said, and Haymitch shook his head, even if she couldn’t see him.

‘I’m not so sure that’s such a good idea.’

‘For you’, Effie didn’t miss a beat in arguing. ‘Katniss and Peeta have each other.’

The ‘you have no one’ was implied, but it didn’t bother Haymitch. The next words that came out of his mouth were a surprise, though.

‘Bring me a new suit, will you? I plan on setting fire to most of the ones I have.’

She laughed at that, even if it sounded broken.

‘See you soon, Haymitch.’

‘Yeah, princess. See you soon.’

☆

‘You look amazing’, was the first thing she said in 12.

Granted, he opened the door shirtless, having just got out of the shower. In his defense, it wasn’t the first time she saw him shirtless, lord knows she had to wash the alcohol out of him a few number of times over the years.

Still, it was weird, and he felt oddly flustered. Effie was blushing too, so he didn’t feel that bad about it.

‘What I meant’, she went on, finally stepping inside the house, ‘is that you look healthy.’

‘Peeta took away the alcohol’, Haymitch grumbled under his breath. ‘And we’ve been training.’

‘Good’, she breathed out, clearly surprised. ‘That’s good. How are they?’

Haymitch shrugged. ‘Ready to fight.’

‘And you?’, Effie insisted.

He couldn’t look at her, but he willed the words out. ‘Ready to die since I saw the announcement. But, as you once said, they need me.’

Effie just handed him his new clothes and told him to change.

☆

Haymitch didn't miss the relieved way she read his name. He didn’t get it instantly, but when Peeta volunteered, he saw the fake surprise on Effie’s face.

Later, he thought her idea with the gold was ridiculous. But even Katniss indulged her, so how could he not? It was clear that she needed it.

Effie once again, surprised the hell out of him on their first morning on the train.

‘Peeta’s not in his room’, she said as she handed him a cup of coffee. ‘He’s in Katniss’. Are they…’

She hesitated, and Haymitch barely kept himself from laughing.

‘What I mean is’, Effie insisted, ‘do I need to give them protection?’

Haymitch spilled coffee on himself. ‘Do you have protection?’, is what came out of his mouth, to which Effie just shrugged.

‘They’re not sleeping together’, he finally answered. ‘I mean, they are sleeping together, but that’s all they’re doing, I’m pretty sure. Sleeping. Just leave them be.’

Effie sighed. ‘It’s very inappropriate.’

At that, Haymitch had to start laughing, and even Effie smiled a bit.

☆

There wasn’t any doubt that this would happen, but Haymitch is having a very hard time.

Not just because of Katniss and Peeta, not just because they’re going back into the games, but because of other things, too.

For once, it wasn’t just the two of them going into the arena, Haymitch knew all the other victors. He was friends with most of them, has been for a while.

Secondly, there was the whole matter of the Rebellion. Something was going to happen during these games, that much was clear, something big. But nobody was telling Haymitch anything, Plutarch was actually being an asshole and ignoring him, point blank. It was unsettling, to say the least.

Thirdly, there was Effie. Who only left his side for sleeping and bathroom breaks. On one hand, Haymitch enjoyed the support she offered, he really needed all the support he could get. But on the other hand, Effie only stopped crying when Katniss and Peeta were there, and she kept insisting on holding onto his hand when they were alone. That was just as unsettling.

☆

It goes on during the games. Effie was always by his side, and his fellow Rebels were keeping him in the dark.

Effie didn’t comment anything when she saw Haymitch’s bracelet on Finnick’s wrist. She even winked at Haymitch, so he figured that she wasn’t mad.

Haymitch sent food, when Plutarch told him to. It was a message, he figured that much out, but he didn’t know details.

Effie cried a lot. She cursed when Mags killed herself. She screamed when the morphling scarified herself for Peeta.

Then, Beetee had a plan, and Plutarch called Haymitch into his office.

He was surprised. Not by the plan to get the victors out of the arena, but by what followed. District 13, Mockingjay, propos.

Plutarch insisted a lot about Haymitch being on the rooftop at midnight. The hovercraft won’t wait. Haymitch didn’t ask, he stated that he will be bringing Effie.

The game maker laughed, thinking it was a joke, the Capitol escort becoming a rebel.

‘She’ll surprise the hell out of you if you let her.’, Haymitch told him without any doubt. ‘And Katniss will need her. If not for anything else, then for prepping her up for the cameras.’

Plutarch waved a hand. ‘We’re getting her prep team for that.’

‘Cinna is dead’, Haymitch hissed. ‘Effie is the best you’ve got.’

The game maker didn't exactly agree, but Haymitch didn’t care.

Effie was waiting for him outside of the office.

‘This is the end, isn’t it?’, was what she whispered.

Yes, Haymitch thought, Effie Trinket will definitely surprise you, given the chance.

‘When I tell you to’, he told her slowly, ‘you’ll follow me.’

She sighed, but nodded. ‘For the kids?’

‘For me’, Haymitch said, without hesitation. ‘And for the kids.’

☆

Effie took it all in stride. Running to District 13, starting the revolution.

Once there, she acted out. Haymitch knew it was a power play, she was smart enough to realize what she needed to do in order to get Plutarch and Coin on her side. However, he didn’t see much of Effie. What with being stuck in detox and all.

And when he did see her, Haymitch had to stifle a laugh at the sight of her, with very minimal makeup and the modified 13 uniform.

She was still Effie, though. Working the day away, prepping Katniss and keeping her sane, as much as possible.

Haymitch didn’t get to interact much with her, and he willed himself to ignore the disappointment of it.

☆

Everybody was surprised when Effie was the only one Peeta responded positively to.

‘She probably wasn’t enough of a threat, for the Capitol to taint his memories of her’, Plutarch had said, and Haymitch was grateful for it, even if Effie always came out of Peeta’s hospital room with tears in her eyes.

There were no tears when Coin made Peeta go to the Capitol, though. There was only rage in Effie’s eyes, and Haymitch took it upon himself to not leave her side, even if that meant dragging her into the command office.

☆

Haymitch felt ashamed, that he was safely tucked away in District 13, while everybody was in the Capitol, fighting.

But Plutarch was right, he was in no shape to fight, and when it will all be over, he will be needed.

So Haymitch was in the command center, watching all the footage they could get their hands on.

He hasn’t seen Katniss or Peeta in days.

And when he did, when he saw Katniss yell her sister’s name and run to her, when he saw Peeta running to Katniss, that’s when the bombs went off.

Haymitch didn’t hear them.

What he did hear, was Effie’s scream.

He forgot to breathe for a while there. He forgot to blink, his heart forgot to beat.

And then, Effie dug her nails into his neck.

He ignored her, turning to Plutarch and Coin. He was just as shocked as he was, Coin just looked disappointed.

‘Get them out of there’, Haymitch forced himself to say. ‘Now’.

Then he grabbed Effie and ran out of the room.

He had to stop two hallways down, because Effie wouldn’t go on. She lowered herself to the floor, and brought her knees up to her chest. Then, she put her hands over her face and screamed.

That was his undoing, and that was when Haymitch sat down on the floor next to her.

Effie screamed, and Haymitch struggled to remember how breathing worked.

He doesn’t know how much time had passed, but the next thing he was aware of was Effie all but climbing into his lap, clutching to him with weak fingers.

‘The children’, she sobbed. ‘Haymitch, our children! Our kids.’

She kept saying that, over and over again.

Our kids.

He couldn’t do much more than hold onto her.

When Coin found them, she said ‘We won.’

It made Effie stop crying, instantly. There was that anger, in her eyes, again. As she forced herself up, Haymitch made no move to stop her.

‘Where are they?’, Effie hissed right into Coin’s face.

‘In the Capitol Hospital.', the woman asked with no infliction in her tone. 'They’re both suffering from major burns, but the doctors are working on them. Katniss will make a full recovery, they still haven’t assessed Peeta’s hijacking.’

‘And Prim?’, Haymitch asks, even if he already knew the answered.

‘She died, along with a vast team of our medics. Her mother has been informed.’

Coin looked like she was going to say something more, but Effie didn’t let her.

‘Get us there. Now.’

‘There will be a hovercraft ready in half an hour.’

Effie nodded, and wordlessly turned her back to Coin. She lowered herself until she was at eye level with Haymitch, and put a hand on his chest.

The pressure of it reminded him to breathe.

‘I’m going to go and get whatever personal objects Katniss and Peeta have, anything to make it easier for them. I need you to pack some clothes for yourself, and for me. Can you do that?’

Haymitch nodded, and he got up and walked away without even looking at Coin.

☆

Haymitch spent his days with Katniss, and Effie spent them with Peeta.

Once a day, she came and brought Haymitch food and a change of clothes. They didn’t speak much, except from updating each other on what the doctors were saying.

She kissed his cheek before she went back to Peeta. Every day.

It was the highlight of his day.

☆

Effie was looking like herself again. In the Capitol, on high heels, with false eyelashes and gold in her hair.

It made the words coming out of his mouth harder to say.

‘Coin wants to hold one more Hunger Games, with the children of the Capitol.’

To her credit, Effie just turned around to look at him.

‘Katniss agreed with it. I had her back.’

There wasn’t shock in Effie’s features. She looked like she was thinking, hard, eyes skipping from him to Katniss and back.

She settled on Katniss, straightening her suit again, and her hair, and who knows what else. But as she spoke, she spoke to Haymitch.

‘Do you remember when you convinced Coin to let Katniss go to District 8? Plutarch cornered me after that, asked me why I trusted you so blindly. At the time, I didn’t even know you were the reason the Rebellion accepted me.’

‘You trust me blindly?’, was what Haymitch found himself saying.

Effie didn’t look at him as she answered.

‘Not blindly, no. I trusted you from the first day we met.’

He blanched at that, visibly. For his sanity, he looked at Katniss, who was watching Effie with a new found interest.

‘Even though’, Effie went on, ‘the first thing you did was to mock my makeup and clothes. But, later that day, you stopped Chaff from throwing up on my shoes, just because you realized the way I looked was important to me.’

She finally looked at him, determined.

‘So yes, Haymitch, I trusted you from the start. And I am trusting you _now_.’

Effie turned to look at Katniss, then, and very pointedly arranged the arrows in her quiver.

‘Are you sure about what you’re about to do?’

Katniss nodded, slowly.

Effie kissed her cheek, and arranged one last curl of her hair.

‘In that case, chin up. And aim straight.’

☆

Haymitch wanted to ask Effie, if she realized what Katniss was about to do. But she didn’t let him, saying that they didn’t have time, they were expected to arrive with Katniss.

Effie didn’t even flinch when Katniss shot Coin, it was clear that she had figured it out.

When chaos erupted, Haymitch’s first instinct was to grab Effie and take her out of there. Effie’s first instinct was to grab Katniss and take her out of there.

☆

Effie went back to sitting with Peeta. He was awake now, but he still needed her, as Katniss needed him.

When it was decided that Haymitch will join Katniss in her exile, he found himself being relieved. Solitude sounded perfect for him.

However, they left so quickly, he didn’t get to say goodbye to Effie. That was his only disappointment.

☆

He tried being there for Katniss. But it was clear that he wasn’t what she needed.

So he made sure Greasy Sae kept Katniss fed.

And he bought geese.

And he went back to drinking. Just a little, Greasy Sae didn’t let him have more than two glasses a day.

But the geese kept him busy enough.

☆

One morning, he woke up to the sound of a shovel. Grumbling under his breath, Haymitch went to the window, only to stare.

Peeta was shoveling dirt at the side of Katniss’ house.

Peeta was back.

Peeta was sane enough that the doctors let him come back.

Peeta came back to Katniss.

There was a knock on his front door.

But Peeta was in Katniss’ garden.

When Haymitch opened the door, he stared again.

Effie was wearing black leather pants and a bright blue shirt, that was large on her. She wasn’t wearing a wig, her makeup was even more minimal than it was in 13, but she had bright pink eyelashes. She wasn’t wearing heels and there were two suitcases behind her back.

‘What are you doing?’, Haymitch asked, making her roll her eyes.

‘Taking care of our kids.’, she said easily, smiling afterwards. ‘May I stay in your guest room? I don’t like the thought of living alone.’

Haymitch opened the door fully. He even helped her carry her bags to the guest room upstairs.

She wrinkled her nose, of course she did.

‘Thankfully, I brought sheets with me. It’ll take a while to clean properly, but it’s more than enough. Thank you, Haymitch.’

He just stared.

‘Do you plan on staying forever?’

That sounded better in his head, but Effie just smiled.

‘If you’ll have me.’

‘Sure’, there was no hesitation from Haymitch. She didn’t seem as surprised by it as he felt.

‘I want to see the source of all this rumpus’, she shook her head. ‘Did you get some sort of animals?’

‘Geese.’, he nodded.

‘Why?’, she seemed amused.  

‘Fills the time.’

She did laugh at that.

‘Only you, Haymitch.’

Then she kissed him on the way out the door, fully on the lips, not giving him enough time to process it, or to kiss her back. He would have liked to kiss her back.

He would have liked that a lot more than he was willing to admit.

‘Come on’, she whispered from the doorway, giggling. ‘I want to see Katniss and Peeta’s reunion.’

Yes, Haymitch thought. They needed to keep an eye out for their kids. He’ll deal with the rest of it later.


	3. Happy Birthday!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day three: Capitol VS Twelve  
> Birthday presents in the year following the 74th Hunger Games.

The relationship between Effie and Haymitch always varied, depending on how much alcohol he had in his system.

If he was just tipsy, there was always harmless flirting between them, and a healthy dose of bickering, enough to make it entertaining.

If he was drunk, the harmless flirting would be replaced with shameless flirting, combining with a lot of aggressive hitting-on action. From Haymitch’s side, Effie would usually just ignore him or send him to sleep.

If he was sober, well, that never happened.

Until the 74th Hunger Games.

Everything changed during the 74th Hunger Games.

And a lot of things changed after the 74th Hunger Games.

Including his relationship with Effie.

☆

Haymitch wasn’t the type of person who had friends. Katniss and Peeta were his tributes, Ripper was his supplier, Hazelle was the woman he hired to wash his clothes, Chaff was his drinking buddy, Finnick was his fellow rebel.

Effie was his Escort.

But, if Haymitch were to be the type of person to have friends, Effie would’ve fallen into that category.

Because after the 74th Hunger Games, Effie fixed his phone. And she called, every other day, mostly to check on the kids. But she’d also tell him about the people they both knew in the Capitol, about who Finnick was screwing this week, about how the Escort from 7 hooked up with one of the mentors from 9.

Haymitch couldn’t care less, but he still listened if he was awake, and answered truthfully any questions she asked.

It was weird.

Because even though Haymitch wasn’t one to have friends, Effie Trinket kind of felt like one.

So on his birthday, two weeks before the Victory Tour, he knew there will be something different, something so very Effie.

And there was.

Besides a couple of cards from fellow victors that he never answered, besides the bottle of expensive scotch Chaff always got him and besides the bottle of mead Beetee always sent him, there was a medium sized package, wrapped in light periwinkle blue.

It just screamed Effie.

So of course, he postponed opening it as much as he could stand it. On his birthday, he drank the scotch for Chaff. On the next day, he drank the mead from Beetee.

On the next day, he slept for about 20 hours, but when he woke up, he did so with the damn present in his mind. So he caved, and opened it.

Haymitch felt a bit of satisfaction in ripping the wrapping paper and letting it fall to the ground, knowing she would hate it.

But all thoughts of annoying Effie went out of his mind when he saw what was inside of the package.

He didn’t understand it, at first. He hoped for alcohol, considering there were three very fancy bottles inside, but upon closer investigation, they were beauty products.

Effie got him shampoo, body wash and shaving cream.

Haymitch became instantly mad, Effie and her stupid standards!, so he pushed the box behind the couch and forgot about it.

For about two days. When Katniss came in, bringing him some fruits and alcohol, she stared for a while at the torn up pieces of paper on the ground.

‘Did I miss something?’, she asked, clearly confused.

‘My birthday last week.’, he deadpanned.

‘Ah.’, Katniss nodded. ‘Sorry about that. Happy birthday!’ She actually managed to sound joyful, it was quite sickening.

‘It never is’, Haymitch grunted, pouring himself a generous amount of alcohol.

Katniss didn’t leave, which was uncommon.

‘So uh’, she pushed the paper around with her boot, ‘what did Effie get you?’

Haymitch groaned, sitting down in the closest chair and letting his head fall on the table. ‘Shampoo, if you must know.’

He closed his eyes, not wanting to deal with it anymore, but he was aware of the fact that Katniss still didn’t leave.

However, a minute later when Haymitch heard a very distinctive feminine moan, he had to look up. And of course, Katniss was holding one of the bottles to her nose.

‘This smells amazing’, she said somewhat breathlessly.

‘It does?’, Haymitch was very weary.

Katniss leveled him with a look. ‘You didn’t even smell them, didn’t you?’

Then she marched up to him and all but shoved the bottle to his nose.

He wanted to hate it. He wanted to hate it badly. But-

‘It smells like the woods’, Katniss said. ‘After it rains. And I swear I can smell a hint of whisky in there too.’

She was right.

Haymitch sighed, gently pushing the bottle away from his nose. ‘You can have the shampoo.’

Katniss frowned. ‘But it’s your gift.’

‘Yes, but you have more hair than I do. Just take it, sweetheart, if you like it so much.’

‘Thank you’, she said after a beat, turning around to leave. She stopped at the threshold, though.

‘Are these the type of gifts people in the Capitol buy?’, Katniss actually seemed curious. ‘Scents to match the –‘

‘I don’t know’, Haymitch interrupted her. ‘It might just be an Effie thing.’

‘You should thank her, then.’, Katniss said pointedly.

Haymitch just grunted, and the girl sighed before she left.

He didn’t thank Effie. But on some nights, when sleep was an impossibility, Haymitch would wash his hands with the body wash and the smell actually helped him relax slightly.

☆

Effie hadn’t celebrated her birthday in years. She stopped, when she became an Escort, because her birthday was on the second day of the Hunger Games.

She couldn’t possibly still have the time to plan a birthday party, is what she told her mother, but,  quite frankly, her birthday was the last thing on her mind when there were children fighting for their lives.

This year, she completely forgot about it. How could she not, when it was the year of the third Quarter Quell, when Katniss and Peeta were in the arena again, this time surrounded by other victors?

Still, her mother called, at precisely midnight, thus reminding Effie that it was, in fact, her birthday.

When she returned to the sponsor’s room, Haymitch left word for her, to meet him back at the apartment. It wasn’t weird, for them to watch the games alone in the penthouse, but everybody was watching in the sponsor’s room, considering how high the stakes were.

Still, she went to the penthouse, and she found Haymitch on the rooftop, actually. It looked like every muscle in his body was tense, and he was just running his fingers threw his hair as Effie came up.

‘What’s wrong?’, she asked, picking up her pace to reach his side.

‘Nothing’, Haymitch smiled, and it threw Effie off. Because it wasn’t one of his fake smiles, the ones he gave in front of the cameras, and it wasn’t the sarcastic smiles she was too accustomed too. He looked genuine.

Then, to Effie’s immense shock, he pulled out a small purple velvet box from his pocket and extended it to her.

‘Happy birthday.’

‘Thank you’, Effie said instinctively, not reaching for the box, just blinking stupidly at it. ‘You didn’t have to get me anything.’

‘You didn’t have to get me anything either.’

‘Haymitch!’, she tried looking at him, but she couldn’t really look away from his hand. It was shaking, slightly, but he wasn’t going to drop the box.

‘I really wasn’t expecting you to get me anything’, Effie went on. ‘That’s not why-‘

‘I wanted to, okay?’, he said, raising his voice a bit, in annoyance. ‘Just open the damn thing.’

He didn’t wait for Effie to grab the box, instead he grabbed her hand and all but shoved the box into it.

All her breath left Effie when she saw the piece of jewelry.

‘I know you have your hair’, Haymitch said in a lowered tone, ‘but you had your hair even before Katniss and Peeta came along. So…’

Effie couldn’t look away for a long time. On a small gold necklace, Haymitch got her a pearl, that had an intricate gold design around it, holding it in place. It was quite beautiful, Effie thought. Simple, very subdued, but it was beautiful.

When she looked up, Haymitch was watching her with a very anxious expression.

‘I had Finnick send me the pearl, so it’s the real thing, and I may have blackmailed Gloss for the gold.’, he said, nodding along. ‘And I know it’s not fancy, but it’s done in Twelve. He’s old now, but he still knows his trade, so … It’s made by the same guy who made Maysilee’s pin.’

Haymitch then shook his head violently, in sync with Effie’s gasp.

‘I meant Katniss.’, he finally said. ‘The same guy who made Katniss’ pin.’

‘Haymitch’, Effie took a step forward. ‘It’s gorgeous, thank you.’

He nodded, but he didn’t look her in the eyes. It felt wrong, and Effie wanted to change it, so she did the only thing she could think off. She took the necklace out of its box and asked Haymitch to put it on for her.

His hands were still shaking, but Effie didn’t mention it. She waited, patiently, holding the curls from her wig out of the way. When he was done, he let his hands fall down on her shoulders, and then on her upper arms, squeezing briefly before letting go completely.

When Effie turned around, she couldn’t help but run her fingers over her new pearl pendant. It was beautiful, yes, but it was more than that. Much more than that. Because it was Haymitch, giving her attention. It was Haymitch, caring. And that felt like the most important thing in the world at the moment, at least to Effie.

‘You don’t have you bangle anymore.’

Haymitch shrugged. ‘Finnick will give it back.’

Effie didn’t want to think of the implications of that sentence, but she couldn’t help but notice, the way he was so nonchalant in saying it. The way he wasn’t sad about it. Also, they were on the rooftop, which was the only place in the Tribute Center that wasn’t bugged.

All of this, combined with whispers she had heard since the Quell was announced, there was only one logical conclusion.

‘Katniss has started something’, Effie said slowly. ‘With her pin.’

Haymitch didn’t deny it. Instead, he grabbed a hold of her hand, squeezing it tightly in both of his, as if he would prove the importance of his words with the strength of his hold.

‘The less you know, the better. But when the time comes, listen to Plutarch.’

Effie started laughing, the mere thought of the game maker being a rebel being so preposterous.

It didn’t take long, for her laughs to turn into tears. And when she realized that happened, Effie wrapped her hands around Haymitch’s neck, and she kissed him.

He froze, completely, his body becoming a hard plank against her. But Effie didn’t stop, she couldn’t. His lips were chapped against hers, but they were warm. And as she breathed him in, she couldn’t help but feel safe, surrounded by the smell of woods and whisky.

As Effie pulled away, Haymitch was watching her with impossibly wide eyes. With shock, maybe, but not anger.

‘I had to do that.’, Effie whispered. ‘At least once.’

She left without saying anything else, and even if Haymitch may have wanted to discuss the kiss, they had no time, between Katniss shooting the arena and running a revolution from District 13.

☆

Effie wore her pearl necklace for a long time, though. For years and years to come, long after Haymitch finally returned the kiss.


	4. Arrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day four: AU  
> Haymitch Abernathy is the hooded vigilante from Starling City, Effie is just an IT girl at his family’s firm. Their paths cross, and they never ward off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope some of y'all watch Arrow. Cause Effie and Haymitch may seem out of character in this one. Especially Effie. Heh. HEH. (I got really excited about this one, not gonna lie).
> 
> Also. If you don't watch Arrow. Now, look... I'm not making this shit up. The first scene, that is literally [what happened](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Hx7uFt4m0). And most of the rest of the fic, yeah, that happened too. Huh. I didn't do much for this AU :))

 

‘Effie Trinket?’

She turns around quickly at the sound of her name, but she falters immediately at the sight of him. She has enough instinct to take away the pen from her mouth, but that’s about it.

‘Hi, I’m Haymitch Abernathy.’

‘Of course’, Effie breaths out, nodding along and putting the damn pen on the desk.

‘I know who you are, you’re Mr. Abernathy’, his name sounds very weird on her lips.

‘No’, he stresses the word out. ‘Mr. Abernathy was my father.’

‘Right, but he’s dead’, to her immense horror this is what Effie says, with a grin on her face. And it appears that she can’t stop talking, either.

‘I mean he drowned’, she tries, unsuccessfully, to recover. ‘But you didn’t. Which means you can come down to the IT department. And listen to me babble. Which will end in 3, 2, 1.’

She takes a deep breath, willing her blush and mortification away, but to Haymitch’s credit, he just smiles and gets down to business.

‘I’m having some trouble with my computer’, he says, taking out a laptop from behind him.

Effie sighs in relief at the sight of it, laptops she can deal with, playboy billionaires who just came back from a 5 years Lost situation, not so much.

‘And they told me you were the person to come and see.’

That mellows her down, somewhat, enough to get her fingers on the laptop as soon as he places it on her desk.

‘I was at my coffee shop, surfing the web, and I spilled a latte on it.’, Haymitch goes on.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah’, there is no hesitation on his part.

‘Cause these look like bullet holes’, Effie tilts her head.

‘My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood.’

Once again, Haymitch doesn’t even falter in his answer. Even though it’s ridiculous, it’s so ridiculous, Effie can’t help but glare at him, somewhat.

All he does in response is to smile. That typical playboy smile, that Effie doesn’t care for, because it makes her knees go week.

‘If there is anything that you could salvage from it’, Haymitch goes on, ‘I would really appreciate it.’

She doesn’t trust her voice, so Effie nods, humming a bit just to be sure he understands.

After Haymitch leaves her office, and after she shamelessly stares at his ass as he goes, Effie groans and has to take a few deep breaths to get her breathing back to normal.

Then, she gets to work.

→☆←

Effie is not stupid.

She graduated MIT with honors and a double degree, and even though she works a low level IT job at a prestigious company, she knows she’s one of the best hackers in the city.

Haymitch seems to have figured this out too, because he keeps coming back. With various jobs, always smiling, borderline on flirting, convincing her to do his bidding.

But the excuses he comes up with, they’re getting more ridiculous.

You’d think, that after a bullet ridden laptop covered up with a coffee spill, it would be hard for the excuses to get more impossible.

But they do.

A friend that he wants to reconnect with. A buddy who’s really into archery and uses a type of special custom made arrows. A scavenger hunt that starts with a heavily encrypted flash drive. An energy drink put into a syringe, because he ran out of sports bottles.

Effie is not stupid.

But she plays along. Because, as much as he was known as being an asshole before being stranded on that island for five years, Haymitch is really polite with her. He never pushes, just asks.

Sometimes, his words might get harsher. And maybe, the flirting gets too much other times. But it’s all in good fun, Effie thinks.

He sits through her babble and unwanted innuendos, she doesn’t mind helping him.

But she’s curious. Very curious. She wants to know what the hell Haymitch is doing, because it doesn’t make any sense to her. All these random jobs, always done on the hush-hush, even if she never gets a proper explanation.

She thinks about it a lot. She thinks about him a lot.

Because he is a gorgeous specimen of a man. He’s older than her, and the island made him age a lot more than 5 years. His hair is too long, but it’s always shiny, and his beard is always neatly groomed.

And Effie is very attracted to his body, she has to admit. The island gave him muscles, definition in places it wasn’t before. A lot of definition. And he has beautiful eyes, piercing gray, and she always makes sure to look into them.

So yes, she thinks about Haymitch a lot. In a lot of ways.

→☆←

She thinks, for a while, that he’s the hooded vigilante that popped up in Starling City, the one who puts arrows into one per centers and has the cops running wild.

It would fit, Effie thinks. The vigilante appeared short after Haymitch came back from the island, and god only knows what happened to him there.

Haymitch being the vigilante would also explain all the jobs he has her doing.

But it couldn’t be, could it? Haymitch was a billionaire, the heir of a multi million dollar company, he had everything he wanted. He could have literally anything it the world.

It made no sense, for Haymitch to be the vigilante.

That’s what Effie kept telling herself, every time she saw footage of the green hooded vigilante on the news, and every time Haymitch would waltz into her office, with a lame excuse and a delicious smile.

→☆←

Things change when Walter Steel goes missing.

He’s the CEO of the company, married to Haymitch's mother. And he disappeared right after he gave Effie a job.

A weird job, but at least he, unlike his step-son, didn’t try to give her ridiculous excuses, he just asked for her discretion. It was a notebook, that belonged to Haymitch's mother. It didn’t seem like much at first, but the deeper she dug, the more confused she was.

Effie thought a lot, if she should go with the notebook to Haymitch. Because he still acted like the playboy everybody expected him to: he bought a club, he was seen with various women, missed events without explanations.

But, when she was with him, Effie could see that he was a good man. Tired almost always, and clearly damaged by whatever traumas he went through in his exile, but a good man.

So she called Haymitch, and her heart was pounding something incredible as she got into the coffee shop.

But Haymitch waved, and he was smiling, waiting her out.

‘Can I trust you?’, she asks him hesitantly, as serious as she could.

At his frown, she glares a bit.

‘I’m not an idiot. You’ve dropped some very ridiculous lies on me and…’, she takes a deep breath, ‘I still feel like I can trust you.’

She has to laugh, at the stupidity of the situation.

‘Why is that?’, she finds herself asking.

‘I have one of those faces’, Haymitch doesn’t miss a beat, answering with a corny smirk on his face.

It makes Effie falter. She looks away, regretting her decision, because this Haymitch, she doesn’t want this one. She needs the real Haymitch, the one she sees thorough this mask he keeps wearing.

‘Sweetheart’, he says slowly, making her look at him again. ‘I’m sorry. Yes, you can trust me’, Haymitch says with conviction, all amusement gone away from his features. He even goes as far as to put a hand lightly on her shoulder, and that is what makes Effie decide to give him the notebook.

It’s clear that he’s shaken by it. But Haymitch doesn’t give any answers, and Effie isn’t strong enough to insist.

She goes home that night with a lot more questions that she had in the morning, and with Haymitch’s voice in her ear, softly calling her ‘sweetheart’.

→☆←

She screams when she sees movement on her backseat. 

In her should have been empty car.

In the empty parking lot at the office.

Very late at night.

Panic sets it quickly, and it only gets worse when she realizes it’s the vigilante.

‘I’m not going to hurt you, Effie’, he pants out.

‘How do you know my name?’, she shrieks, ignoring the way he’s hunched over, clearly in pain.

Then, the vigilante takes off his hood, and Effie is faced with the sight of a very pale and sweaty Haymitch, with green camouflage paint around his eyes.

‘Because you know my name’, he says, and honestly-

‘Mr Ab- Haymitch, oh wow. Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear’.

He glares, of course, and Effie understands it. But she doesn’t dwell on it.

‘You’re bleeding’.

‘I don’t need to be told that’, Haymitch shakes his head, incredulity clear.

‘You need a hospital’, Effie decides, starting up her car.

Of course, he doesn’t want to go to a hospital. He wants to go to his father’s old factory in the Glades, the worst part of town.

She promises him that’s where she’ll take him, but only because of the soft way he says her name, and only because he looks about to pass out.

After that, the night is a blur, filled with a shirtless, unconscious Haymitch lying on a metal table, and with his bodyguard, Cinna, giving Effie the 101 on Haymitch’s crusade, all revolved along his father and the damn notebook.

‘Trust me, he’s been through a lot worse than this’, Cinna tells Felicity at one point, before Haymitch flat-lined, and yes, he is right.

Because Haymitch’s body, the body she admired from afar all these weeks, it is broken. There are so many scars on it, knife wounds, burns, bite marks. And tattoos, that clearly weren’t made in a safe environment. Effie wants to cry. For days.

→☆←

She likes Cinna. He’s a very strong man, but he’s soft with her. He explains a lot of things, insists on the fact that her help made them catch a few very bad guys. Cinna makes her understand a lot of things, but it all comes down to one question.

‘What happened to him on that island?’

‘He doesn’t talk about it’, Cinna shakes his head. ‘But I think it’s safe to say it wasn’t good.’

‘It made him a killer’, Effie can’t help but point out. ‘Yes, he kills bad guys, but he kills.’

Cinna once again makes her understand. Effie still doesn’t agree with it, she doesn’t think she’ll ever agree, but she understands.

→☆←

So when Haymitch wakes up, he wakes up to Effie’s shirt stained with his blood, and with an upgraded network.  And with Felicity babbling, a bit.

‘Does that mean you’re in?’, Haymitch smirks a bit, pulling a blanket around his shoulder.

‘In, as in’, Effie gesticulates wildly, ‘I’m going to join your crusade.’

‘Well, you’re practically an honorary member of the team already’, Haymitch’s smile grows wider.

‘No’, Effie shakes her head, and his smile is immediately replaced with anger.

‘Then why’d you upgrade my system, sweetheart?’

‘First, because a system that poorly set up hurts me, in my soul’, Effie replies, calmly and truthfully. Then, softer, ‘I want to help you find your step-father.’

Haymtich is clearly confused by this.

‘He was nice to me’, Effie shrugs, ‘And Cinna told me that the notebook you use to fight crime is the same one he gave to me.’

The glare Haymitch sends Cinna’s way is a glorious, violent thing, but Cinna doesn’t even falter under it.

‘I want to help you rescue him’, Effie goes on, ‘but that’s it. Then, I want to go back to my boring life of being an IT girl. That’s my offer’.

‘Okay’, Haymitch doesn’t take a long to decide. Then, he steps closer to her, extending his hand.

Effie takes it, hesitantly, but Haymitch squeezes her finger tightly, and he’s looking at her with a very sincere expression of gratitude.

‘Sweetheart’, he breathes out, ‘thank you.’

Haymitch pairs it with a small kiss to the back of her hand, and it’s only then, that Effie realizes how much trouble she’s in.

→☆←

The moment she knows she will never leave Haymitch’s side comes a week later.

They’re tracking down a jewel thief, at a very fancy charity auction. Effie’s all dolled up, in one of her more expressive dresses, and Haymitch looks absolutely breathtaking in his suit.

But they’re working, and focusing on that.

It was going rather well, with just a small unwanted innuendo from her side, until Effie decided to confront the bad guy, head on. It only got her a bomb attached to her neck, and a new sense of panic.

But she’s stable enough to see Haymitch’s expression. Just for a split second, before he put on a brave mask and tried to calm her down, there was something else.

There was desperation. Haymitch was terrified. For her.  It made Effie beg him to leave, in case the bomb went off.

But he grabbed her and pushed her into an empty room, and he didn’t take his hand off as he was calming her down.

He hesitated, when he had to go run after the jewel thief. It took Cinna telling him to go three times, and Effie yelling at him, to get Haymitch to actually leave.

They heard him, though, when he caught the thief and confronted him.

Effie knew Haymitch was strong, in and out. She knew he could be terrifying, when he needed to. She knew Haymitch was a fighter.

And now, he was fighting for _her_ life.

The bomb came off, and Cinna hugged Effie tightly, but neither compared with the emotion she felt when Haymitch came back, with seeing him relax completely, relieved only when his eyes laid upon her.

He hugged her then as well, gingerly, and Effie took comfort from it.

That’s when she knew, that she will never leave his side.

→☆←

Two years later, Effie loves Haymitch more than she has ever loved anything and anyone.

No matter how much they’ve been through.

How much death and destruction they’ve faced.

No matter how many friends they have lost.

No matter how many times she had to save him.

No matter how many times he had to save her.

No matter how many scars they got.

No matter how much they yelled at one another.

No matter how many times he pushed her away, in fear of hurting her.

No matter what, Effie loved Haymitch with all her heart.

→☆←

It’s after they lost another one of their friends, a woman who Haymitch used to love, a women he thought he lost twice over. That’s when he asks.

‘Why don’t you leave?’

He’s devastated, she knows this. She can see it clearly. He’s not looking at her, he’s sitting on a chair and looking at the ground, and there are tears running on his face.

Effie gathers her strengths and kneels in front of him, making Haymitch look at her.

‘We’re a team, aren’t we?’, she tries to smile, even if it’s shaky.

‘I’m hurting you’, he breaths out, in a voice so low she only hears it because of their proximity. ‘Everyone that I love dies. You should just leave.’

Effie shakes her head.

‘I’ll never leave. I’ll never leave you. Not because I love you’, she smiles, ‘but because I trust you, Haymitch. With my life, with my heart, with everything, I believe in you. Nothing will ever change that.’

She takes a deep breath. ‘I’m never leaving.’

Haymitch breaks down then, forcing her into his arms, but Effie doesn’t mind. She’d do anything for him. So she holds Haymitch as he cries, and promises she’ll never leave, over and over again, hoping he’ll believe it.

→☆←

Haymitch dies.

He comes back.

He leaves to join the bad guys.

He leaves the city to burn.

He leaves her.

He comes back.

He fakes his death.

He stays.

Throughout it all, he keeps calling her ‘sweetheart’.

Effie doesn’t leave.

Effie doesn’t leave him.

→☆←

It doesn’t end with desperate declarations of love. Not even close.

But it starts with a name.

→☆←

‘I was thinking’, she tells him one day, ‘cause the press don’t know how to call you anymore. For all they know, the Hood died, so you coming along, they need a new name.’

‘I never liked the Hood anyway’, Haymitch snorts.

‘So do we wanna keep it simple?, Effie muses. ‘The Arrow? Or do we fancy things up, like… the Emerald Archer?’

Haymitch scrunches up his nose, and is silent for a couple of seconds. Then, he smiles at her.

‘I like the Arrow.’

‘Good’, Effie grins. ‘I’ll anonymously leak it to the media.’

She turns to leave, but his very playful voice stops her.

‘Although, sweetheart, I’d rather you call me something else’.

Effie doesn’t get to ask what, because Haymitch kisses her. He wraps his arms around her, his scent enveloping her completely, and something deep and powerful settles in Effie’s heart, in sync with his lips moving against her.

‘Of course, my love’, Effie manages to say between kisses. It makes Haymitch grin and kiss her harder.


	5. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day five: Angst  
> Katniss’ medical problems don’t end when she goes back to 12, and the gravity of them surprises everyone. Effie and Haymitch have to help her through dealing with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not that good at writing angst. So, of course, this is 6700 words long. Oops.  
> Also. I know shit about medicine, so keep that in mind. Also. Trigger warning for talk about abuse. Nothing descriptive, though.

It’s been two months since Peeta came back to District 12, but Haymitch still hears the girl screaming, some nights. Her nightmares seem to be more rare, yes, but they’re still there, probably will be for the rest of her life.

So Haymitch isn’t concerned when one morning, he hears Katniss scream. Usually, she stops after a while, after she wakes up and gathers her bearings.

This time, she doesn’t. She keeps screaming, and it gets more desperate with each breathe. So it doesn’t take long for Haymitch to run to her house.

He gets there at the same time as Peeta, and neither of them waste any time in running up to Katniss’ room. Haymitch is the first to lay eyes on her, and he stops.

Katniss is in the middle of her bed, covered in blood.

She’s wearing a thin nightgown, and her sheets are white, her cover pushed at the end of the bed.

And she’s covered in blood.

Katniss stopped screaming when she saw them, but she’s still crying, desperation written on her features.

Peeta tries to step past Haymitch to get to Katniss, but something makes the older man stop him.

‘Did you cut yourself?’, Peeta asks, desperately, and she shakes her head, looking to Haymitch.

‘It hasn’t been a year’, Katniss breathes out and then, Haymitch understands, why the blood is so thick it’s almost black, and why it’s mostly pooled around her waist.

This shouldn’t have happened, he knows this. Before each Hunger Games, the doctors would give the girls a shot, that stopped them from getting their periods. The shot lasted for an year, and it hasn’t been that long since Katniss got hers for the Quell. And it’s clear she’s hurting, by the way she keeps crying and whimpering, and she has both her hands on her stomach.

Haymitch turns to Peeta, and all but shoves him out the door, ordering him to run to the last house in the Village and get the doctor.

Thankfully, they have someone now, a man from District 4.

Haymitch then goes to Katniss’ side, and just holds her for a while, not caring about the blood he’s getting on his clothes.

‘Come on, sweetheart’, he says when Katniss stops shaking. ‘It’s probably just a side effect, it’s gonna be alright.’

‘I know’, Katniss nods against his chest. ‘I just…’

‘Woke up covered in blood’, Haymitch says when she doesn't continue. ‘I know. Let’s get you cleaned up, alright? The doctor’s going to be here soon.’

Katniss relents, and Haymitch doesn’t let go of her till they’re in the bathroom, when she says she can handle it. Still, he leaves the door ajar, but he does hear the shower come on a couple of seconds later.

As Katniss showers, Haymitch changes the bedding, intent on burning the soiled one. When he hears the shower turn off, he rummages through her drawers for a while, but it doesn’t take too long for him to find a pair of undergarments and a loose nightgown.

Katniss’ face is red as a tomato as she peeks out from the bathroom and sees him handing her underwear, and Haymitch can’t help but snicker at the sight. But it makes her smile, a bit, so he figures it’s okay.

When she comes out of the bathroom, still red in the face and holding her hands around herself in a very protective way, Haymitch hugs her.

Katniss tenses, but she does relax quickly enough.

‘Are you in pain?’, Haymitch asks, and she nods against his chest.

So he puts her back into bed, sitting up against the headboard and he makes sure she has a pillow on her stomach before covering her with the fluffiest blanket he found.

Katniss is looking at him very oddly, maybe because he’s sober, maybe because he knows how to deal with a woman with period pains, or maybe because he’s blatantly displaying affection.

He doesn’t get to find out, because Peeta comes with the doctor. He’s a man about Beetee’s age, but his hair is already completely gray. He has a soft smile on his face as he introduces himself as Doctor Avery, and when he asks what happened, he doesn’t ask Katniss, he asks Haymtich, which she is pleasantly surprised about.

‘Her first games’, Haymitch starts saying, ‘they injected her with something, I don’t know what but maybe I can find out, to make her period stop. For a year.’

‘It was only 10 months’, Katniss says hesitantly, still blushing furiously.

‘Right’, Haymitch blinks. ‘It was supposed to be 12, but, beyond that, there weren’t any complications, were there?’

Katniss shakes her head, not looking anybody in the eye. ‘My mother checked, she said I was okay.’

The doctor nods, and motions for Haymitch to go on.

‘Second time around, they did it again. But, it must have been something different. Because this happened’, he pointed at Katniss, ‘and Annie Cresta got pregnant, and I know Joanna had some pain issues too. Might have been from the torture’, Haymitch winces, ‘but nobody was sure.’

Peeta curses under his breath, but everybody ignores him.

‘Right, well’, the doctor looks to Katniss, tapping on her ankle to get her to look at him. ‘I know you’d rather have your mother here, or any other woman, but I promise, I’m here to help you.’

‘I know’, Katniss says quickly. ‘Doctors are the only people I trust implicitly.’

Avery grins at that, and spares a look to Haymitch and Peeta, before turning back to look at Katniss.

‘Maybe you’d want your boys to wait somewhere else?’

Haymitch glares at the doctor, while Peeta blushes, but it’s okay, because it makes Katniss snort.

‘Not far, though’, she looks at Haymitch, and he’s quick to nod.

☆

As they wait outside of the room, Haymitch has to take care of Peeta, because he’s looking terribly lost.

‘She’ll be okay’, he tells Peeta. ‘She’s strong.’

Peeta nods. ‘I know, it’s just that… there was so much blood’, he closes his eyes, and Haymitch doesn’t want to guess which terrors he’s seeing behind his eyelids.

‘And I only realized where it came from when you explained about the shots’, Peeta says, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.

It still makes Haymitch smirk, because he always gets a lot of thrill out of his kids acting like the kids there are, showing their age.

They’re silent after that, until the doctor yells that they can come inside.

Katniss looks a bit pale, but she nods at them when they get in. There’s still a pillow on her stomach and she lets Peeta sit beside her on the bed.

‘You should rest, Katniss’, the doctor says. ‘I’ll leave you some more pain pills, but you should call me if it gets worse, okay?’

She nods, thanking him, closing her eyes. Avery then asks to talk to Haymitch and Peeta, and they lead him to the kitchen, Peeta moving around the place like he owns it, making coffee.

Avery asks Peeta if he and Katniss were ever sexually active. The boy splutters, and blushes furiously, but he denies it.

‘Then I don’t know what’s wrong’, the doctor sighs, ‘and I don’t have the means to figure it out here.’

‘She can’t leave the district’, Peeta points out.

‘What do you need?’, Haymitch asks.

‘Equipment. And medicine. Which I know I’m not going to get’, the doctor looks to Haymitch. ‘They’ve been pretty clear on that when I came here. There’s only 100 people in 12, it doesn’t justify having all the top of the line equipment, and even if it was justifiable, there isn’t enough money.’

‘I have money’, Haymitch doesn’t miss a beat saying, making the doctor blink at him.

‘They won’t allow it’, he shakes his head.

‘It’s for Katniss’, Peeta points out.

‘The equipment exists, physically, somewhere, right?’, Haymitch inquires, and the doctor nods.

‘I have the money to pay for it, and because it’s for Katniss, it’ll be more likely they’ll give it to me. Plus’, he smirks, ‘we still have a few friends in the Capitol.’

With that, he heads for the phone and calls Effie.

☆

‘What’s wrong?’, is the first thing she says after hearing his voice.

Haymitch sighs, but starts explaining.

‘I need your help’, is what he ends with. ‘To get what the doctor needs.’

‘Of course’, there is no hesitation on her part. ‘I can get the medicine on my own, I’ll need Plutarch’s help on the equipment, but I’m sure we can get it. I don’t have the money for it, though.’

‘I’ll call the bank after I hang up with you’, Haymitch says easily. ‘Give you access to my account.’

There is a lengthy pause before Effie speaks again.

‘You want to pay for all of it?’

‘I have the money’, Haymitch rolls his eyes, ’25 years worth of it. Plus, it’s not just for Katniss. 12 is being rebuild, slowly, there’s more and more people coming, and we’re going to need all of this. Take it as an investment, if you will.’

Effie sighs, but Haymitch knows she’s smiling.

‘Of course’, is what she says. ‘Then please pass the doctor on the phone.’

☆

Effie arrives a week later with, quite literally, a train cart filled with supplies. At the sight of it, Avery looks like he’s about to cry, and Haymitch just stares, somewhat stupidly.

‘Could I really afford all of this?’

‘I didn’t empty your account, I swear’, Effie is quick to assure. ‘There’s more than three quarters left.’

At Haymitch’s shocked expression, she giggles a bit.

‘Things are a lot more cheaper without the Capitol’s hand in the economy. I may have splurged a bit’, she bats her eyelashes, ‘but everybody wanted to help District 12, so they sold the items to me at the factory price. The equipment was a bit more of a hassle’, she scrunches up her nose, ‘and it isn’t the top of the line, not even Plutarch managed that, but at least it’s here.’

Haymitch is grinning wildly by the end of her speech, and he laughs, for the first time in what feels like ages, grabbing a hold of Effie’s neck and kissing her forehead.

‘You are amazing’, he says, pointedly, delighted to see her blush.

☆

It takes a couple of days for the doctor to install all the equipment and make an inventory of the new supplies, even with the help of the two young nurses Effie brought with her.

In the mean time, Effie surprises everyone by staying in District 12, a well deserved vacation, she says.

She stays in one of Haymitch’s guest rooms, and one night, Effie admits that she wanted to visit them for a long time, that’s she’s disappointed it took such bad news for her to actually do it.

‘I’m really glad you came’, Haymitch tells her in all honestly. ‘The only women Katniss has around is Greasy Say, who I’m pretty sure hasn’t had these problems in at least 25 years, and her granddaughter, who still has a couple of years before she gets them.’

Effie smiles at that. ‘I’m not sure I’m going to be the best option’, Hyamitch frowns at that, but she doesn’t let him say anything.

‘But I’ll be here’, she goes on. ‘Even the Mockingjay needs some girl time, right?’

Haymitch laughs at that, but he can't deny it.

☆

It surprises him, how well Effie takes to living in 12.

The heels are gone, replaced by sturdy boots. The wig never makes an appearance; the makeup is minimal, unbelievably natural. He never once sees her wearing a dress and he more than once catches her wearing his shirts. In public. Tied around her waist or pinned in the back, but they are still his shirts.

Effie eats breakfast every morning with Peeta and Katniss, sometimes dragging Haymitch along too, and every evening, she goes and makes sure the girl takes her pain medication.

Haymitch doesn’t know what she does during the rest of the time. Sometimes, she goes out for hours, other times, she locks herself in her room.

Effie and Haymitch don’t talk much, but her presence doesn’t bother him. It’s surprisingly nice to make dinner for two people, and he doesn’t drink as much, knowing she’s in the house, in fear of hurting her.

If she notices this, she doesn’t mention anything.

Effie seems distressed, no matter how much she smiles, and Haymitch gets it. Because Katniss is the reason she is here in the first place, and Katniss was still bleeding.

☆

Katniss has to go to the doctor’s house, at the end of the Victor Village, where he set up a make shift clinic.

Of course, they all go with her, but the doctor won’t let them all inside for the check up, just one person. He’s looking pointedly at Effie as he says this, but Katniss surprises absolutely everyone by asking Haymitch to join her.

He does, of course, without any hesitation, even if he’s very confused. But Haymitch holds her hand as the doctor prods at her, and he looks pointedly at her face. But he does ask, hoping it will distract her.

‘Why am I here?’

‘So I can break your fingers when I’m in pain.’, Katniss doesn’t even look at him as she answer.

‘No, I mean’, he rolls his eyes, ‘why am _I_ here?’

She does look at him at that, and blinks a couple of times.

‘I can’t embarrass myself any more in front of you’, Katniss finally says. ‘Plus, you seem to know what you’re doing.’

‘I did grow up with a mother, you know’, Haymitch snaps a bit, but he also gets some stray pieces of hair from Katniss’ face.

‘And after she had my brother’, he goes on, ‘she had some problems. Heat always helped with the pain. And a tea, I remember she used to drink some particular dried flowers, but I can’t remember what they were.’

Katniss doesn’t say anything, she just stares at him until the doctor finishes looking over her. They don’t get results on the spot, it will take a few more days, but Avery promises to come by with them as soon as he has them.

☆

‘Katniss keeps asking me weird questions about you’, Effie tells him two days later, as they’re sitting down for dinner.

‘Like what?’, Haymitch frowns.

‘Like how long we’ve known each other, if you ever spoke to me about your family, or about your games, if you changed when they came along, that sort of thing.’

It takes a long while for Haymitch to ask a simple ‘why?’

‘She says you’re oddly affectionate’, Effie smiles. ‘Since this whole thing started. She doesn’t get it.’

‘I… don’t get it either.’, Haymitch says slowly. ‘Am I really?’

‘What?’, Effie raises an eyebrow.

‘Affectionate’, he grunts.

‘Yes, Haymitch, you are’, Effie doesn’t miss a beat in answering. ‘But it’s alright, you care a lot about the kids. And you understand Katniss better that Peeta.’

‘What does that have to do with anything?’, he frowns.

‘I think’, Effie frowns, ‘that you stopped fighting. The war’s over. The games are over. You don’t have to fight them anymore.’

‘I really don’t follow, princess’, Haymitch shakes his head, very confused.

Effie sighs, takes a sip of water before she talks again.

‘For all these years, you never let your affections show, in fear of having someone killed. Now, you don’t have that fear anymore. None of us do.’

Haymitch opens his mouth to deny it, but decides against it as a new thought enters his mind.

‘You make it sound like you were in the same situation.’

He watches her closely, as Effie adverts her eyes, chuckles a while and says ‘Of course not, that’s ridiculous’.

But she’s lying.  He knows she is.

Haymitch can’t deal with it now. It probably doesn’t matter. She would have told her, if it did matter. They have bigger fish to fry.

☆

Avery comes to get Haymitch first, which is unsettling. But when he starts talking, he looks only at Katniss, completely ignoring him, Effie and Peeta.

‘Mr. Heavensbee sent me records’, he starts by saying. ‘The shot they gave the tributes for the Quarter Quell should have only delayed their periods for a month, that’s why Annie got pregnant.  But you weren’t injected with that.’

‘But I didn’t get my period back’, Katniss was frowning, her hand in Peeta’s.

Avery takes a deep breath before talking again.

‘I’m sorry, but they implanted a child. That’s why you didn’t get your period back.’

‘That’s not possible’, Effie says in the silence that follows. ‘It’s been months, she isn’t showing.’

Avery doesn’t look away from Katniss. ‘There were complications, that remained untreated. I don’t understand how they’ve missed it when you were in 13, but-‘

‘They weren’t looking’, Effie interrupts. ‘Or maybe they were, and Coin forbid it.’

‘Doesn’t matter’, Avery shakes his head.

‘Are you saying that I’m pregnant?’, Katniss asks.

‘I’m saying that you were.’, Avery says, softly. ‘I’m saying that you lost it. I’m saying that it has been a very complicated pregnancy.’

‘That she wasn’t even aware of’, Effie says, voice barely above a whisper.

Katniss moves, startling everyone. She jumps out of her chair, all but pushing Peeta out of his, standing with tears in her eyes. She looks as terrified she looked in the arena, and it makes Haymitch take a step towards her.

‘This is rape!’, Katniss yells, stopping his movements.

‘I’ve been…’, her breaths are uneven. ‘I can’t…’

She screams again, an agonizing sound, and all but runs out of the room, up the stairs.

Haymitch moves to follow her, but Peeta stops him.

‘She doesn’t want us right now’, he says, clearly distressed. ‘Let her be, she knows we’re here for her when she needs it.’

Avery starts talking again, explaining what is wrong with Katniss and what surgeries she has to go through. Haymitch doesn’t listen, but he knows Effie does. She’ll explain it to him later, probably in words he’ll actually understand.

The doctor leaves with a very sad look on his face, that they all share. Effie wordlessly goes up to Katniss’ bedroom, and Peeta doesn’t stop her, so Haymitch follows too.

When they go into her bedroom, Katniss is sitting down on the floor, near the foot of the bed, her head between her knees.

‘Go away’, she all but yells, and the anger behind it surprises Haymitch.

‘Katniss’, Effie says with surprising strength, ‘When you are ready, I think you should come and talk to be, because I understand how you feel.’

The girl lifts her head up at that, angrily glaring at Effie.

‘You have no idea what I feel’, she spits out, but Effie doesn’t falter.

‘I do, actually’, she says strongly. ‘Just because we weren’t thrown into an arena doesn’t mean we were safe.’

Katniss and Haymith both blanch out at that, but Effie ignores it.

‘Please’, she tells Katniss, in a very soft voice. ‘When you’re ready, come find me.’

With that, she leaves, and one glare from Katniss makes Haymitch follow her out.

He tries asking, but Effie refuses to explain herself. It hurts him, surprisingly so.

☆

Katniss comes by two days later, looking as pale as a sheet. There’s still anger in her eyes, but she’s also scared. It's difficult for Haymitch to look at her.

But Effie gives him a comforting smile, and he takes his leave.

‘You can stay’, Katniss’ voice stops him. ‘If Effie’s alright with it.’

‘Of course’, she nods. ‘Might as well, I wouldn’t enjoy telling this story more than once.’

Haymitch reluctantly sits down on an armchair, as his girls sit on the couch.

‘I was a model’, Effie starts by saying, pointedly not looking at either of them. ‘Since I was 12, and I was popular. Very popular, attractive, beautiful, everything the men in the Capitol would ever want. When I became an Escort, Snow spoke to me directly.’

She takes a deep breath, but when she speaks again, she does it fast and clearly, still without looking at them.

‘He informed me that he will be selling my body to the highest bidder. If I were to refuse, my parents would be killed.’

Haymitch grabs the closest thing to him, which is a book, and throws it to the closest wall.

Katniss flinches, watching him with wide eyes, shock clearly in them, but Effie just closes her eyes.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’, Haymitch roars, the strength of his voice surprising even himself.

‘There was no point’, Effie grits out, finally looking to him. ‘You couldn’t have done anything.’

‘I would have found something’, he screams.

‘And you would’ve gotten yourself killed for it’, Effie points out, annoyingly calm. ‘I couldn’t have that.’

That mellows Haymitch down, slightly. Enough that he collapses back into the armchair, unable to take his eyes off Effie.

‘Finnick helped me a lot’, Effie tells him, in a much more softer voice. ‘He wasn’t always there, but he told me what to expect from certain men.’

‘The bastard didn’t tell me’, Haymitch says, not bothering to yell.

‘There was no point, Haymitch’, Effie sighs. ‘He knew you better than I did, at that point, and he agreed.’

‘Where are your parents now?’, Katniss asks, surprising the both of them.

‘I convinced them to go on holiday, just before the Quell’, Effie looks down. ‘They were in 4 during the war, but they’re okay. Back home now.’

‘So you knew something was happening’, Katniss says, a bit of accusation into her tone.

‘I’m not stupid, Katniss’, Effie frowns. ‘I just had to act like I was. I knew Haymitch was part of the Rebellion long before he told me we needed to run.’

Haymitch figured as much on his own, but it was nice to hear.

‘That’s not important right now’, Effie shakes her head. ‘The men aren’t either.’

Again, she takes a deep breath before talking, but now she looks at Katniss.

‘I went to a doctor every month. I never told him the truth, but he figured it out anyway. The type of shots they gave to the tributes weren’t allowed for citizens. So when I got pregnant’, Effie’s voice breaks, but she pushes on, ‘the doctor didn’t report it.’

‘I couldn’t keep it, even if I wanted children.’, Effie shakes her head. ‘The man was a … monster. I couldn’t…’

Katniss grabs her hand, and Haymitch is thankful for it, because he was itching to do the same.

‘There were complications during the abortion’, Effie says next, not once looking away from Katniss.  ‘They found a foreign formation, maybe cancerous.’

‘Shit, Effie’, Haymitch whispers, but all she does is close her eyes, briefly.

‘I had to make a choice.’, she says next. ‘Because the doctors had no certainty, if it would evolve into cancer or not. But the only way to make sure I was safe, on the long run, was to remove my uterus completely.’

‘Do you understand?’, Effie asks Katniss, not unkindly.

The girl just nods, and Haymitch sees that she’s as concerned as he is.

‘Of course I did it’, Effie smiles a bit. ‘I didn’t even want to bring a child into that world. But I had to keep it hidden from Snow, and the doctor helped. Still, a month later I was back at… work. There were some complications because of such a short resting time, but’, she smiles again, ‘I’m fine now.’

‘But unable to have children.’, Katniss says, clearly pained.

‘I didn’t mind it at the time’, Effie says. ‘I couldn’t be a good mother, not when I was sending children to the slaughter every year.’

‘And now?’, Katniss insists.

‘Honey’, Effie levels the girl with a look, ‘I would never want a child to grow up without a father.’

Katniss flinches at that, visibly, but Haymitch sees Effie tighten her hold on the girl’s hand, before she speaks again.

‘And after everything the Capitol made me do, after the war, after all that’s happened, it’s going to take me a long, long time to be able to fully trust a man again.’

Haymitch’s heart breaks at that moment. He didn’t even think he had a heart anymore. But, it was as Effie said, he thinks. He was able to show his affections again, he didn’t have to hide his emotions anymore.

And it hurt.

‘I’m broken’, Katniss says next. It’s a struggle for her to speak, but Effie waits her out. ‘I can’t live without Peeta, but I can’t give him what he wants either. And I feel so…’

‘Dirty’, Effie finishes softly, when it’s clear that Katniss can’t. ‘They used you, in more than one way.’

‘What do I do?’, Katniss asks Effie, somewhat desperately. ‘What can I do?’

‘You need to take care of yourself, of your body first.’, Effie says softly. ‘The pregnancy took a toll on it, and you need to let Doctor Avery to fix that. There are lesions on your uterus, and he has to go in to fix that, and to check that there isn’t anything else wrong. If you don’t, he can’t say what will happen in the future.’

‘Why should I let him do that?’, Katniss sighs, a tear falling down her cheek.

‘It’s not a choice’, Effie says with a bit more force. ‘It could be a matter a life and death, and you’ve been through so much, my dear. Don’t let this bring you down, not when there’s a solution for it.’

Katniss opens her mouth to say something, but Effie doesn’t let her.

‘You say you can’t give Peeta what he wants now’, she smiles, ‘but there’s time, Katniss. You have all the time in the world.’

‘But-‘

‘No’, Effie interrupts with finality. ‘You need to be healthy now, because maybe, in time, things with change. With you, with Peeta, with the two of you. You need to have the option’, Effie says with surprising strength.

‘Don’t let them take that option away from you.’

‘I’m scared’, Katniss breathes out, and it’s so low, Haymitch barely hears it.

Effie doesn’t hesitate then, in bringing Katniss into her arms, and the girl accepts it.

They’re both crying by this point, and honestly, Haymitch feels ready to explode. He is absolutely useless, frozen in his spot, but he would do anything at this moment, to make all of their pain go away.

‘It’s going to be alright’, Effie says into Katniss’ hair. ‘We’re all here for you, and everything is going to be alright.’

‘I want my mom’, Katniss says, and Effie and Haymitch share a look at that. He sees his desperation mirrored in her eyes, but she is the one who manages to respond.

‘I’ll speak with her’, Effie says. ‘I promise I’ll do my best.’

Katniss cries for a long time, until exhaustion takes over and she falls asleep in Effie’s arms. She’s dead to the world, she doesn’t stir when Haymitch picks her up and carries her over to her house.

Peeta tries asking, but Effie doesn’t tell him anything important. She just says that Katniss will speak with him when she’s ready and that the most important thing for him to do is to respect her decision and be there for her. The kid doesn’t even hesitate in promising that.

Effie wants to go to sleep when they go back to Haymitch’s house, but he can’t let her. He hugs her tightly, surprising them both, but it doesn’t take long for Effie to relax completely in his hold.

She’s shaking, slightly, and it breaks Haymitch’s heart all over again.

‘I am so sorry’, he says. ‘I was stupid for not seeing it.’

‘No’, Effie shakes her head, tightening her hold on him. ‘It was better this way, I… I couldn’t have looked you in the eyes if you knew.’

‘I would have thought of something’, Haymitch sighs. ‘I would have bought you so others couldn’t, or, hell, Effie, I would’ve married you.’

She laughs at that, even if she’s still crying. Effie pushes herself away from his hold, but doesn’t go very far. She smiles, as she runs her thumb under Haymitch’s eyes, and it’s only then when he notices that he’s crying.

‘And I love you for it’, Effie whispers. ‘Thank you, but it’s all in the past now.’

With that, she gently tugs on the collar of his shirt until he bends down slightly, so Effie could reach and kiss his cheek. She smiles at Haymitch one more time before going to bed.

Haymitch doesn’t understand what his heart is doing. He doesn’t understand what he’s feeling and what it means, but he knows it hurts.

And he knows he would do absolutely anything, for Katniss and Effie both. He hopes that he will be able to help them.

He hopes.

☆

Haymitch has no idea how Effie did it, but Margret Evergreen arrives two days later. She’s a mess, clearly, Peeta tells them she can’t even get close to Prim’s room, so she sleeps on the couch. But the day after she arrives, Katniss decides on having the surgery.

So Haymitch is very relieved for her presence. But it’s a major surprise, when the next night, she comes to see him, a bottle of alcohol in her hand. A small bottle.

‘Greasy Say approved’, Margret says. ‘The three of us can have a glass each.’

Haymitch grumbles under his breath, but he does lead her to the kitchen and yells for Effie.

The women make small talk for a while, mostly Effie asking Margret about how she is doing in District 4, and about Annie and her child. Then, they start talking about Katniss, and Haymitch tries to follow, but he doesn’t understand most of what they’re saying, so he just quietly sips on his alcohol.

Until Margret kicks at his legs under the table. It doesn’t hurt physically, but it’s been 26 years since she did that. There’s a mischievous glint in her eyes, that he used to see every day before he got Reaped. It’s enough to make him freeze.

‘I owe you an apology’, she says, slowly, but Haymitch is quick to shake his head.

‘You don’t.’

‘Yes, I do’, Margret says a bit more strongly, making Haymitch look at her.

‘I’ve hated you for years’, she goes on. ‘Blamed you for her death, when I should have been blaming Snow instead.’

Haymitch can’t look at her anymore.

‘But thank you’, she goes on, ‘for taking care of my daughter when I couldn’t.’

He has to take a deep breath before looking at her again.

‘I should have taken care of you too, after your husband died’. Then, he smiles a bit. ‘But you wouldn’t have let me.’

‘No, I wouldn’t have’, she’s quick to agree. Then she looks at Effie, who has been watching everything with a small frown between her brows.

‘I won’t be able to stay here for long’, Margret says, and Effie is quick to take her hand.

‘We understand, and I’m sure Katniss does too. Don’t worry, we’ll all take good care of her, I promise.’

‘Thank you’, Margret nods, and looks to Haymitch again.

‘You look good, old man.’, she smirks a bit. ‘Don’t start drinking again.’

Of course, that makes Haymitch scowl, and both women laugh at that.

‘Katniss still has the pin’, Margret tells him next. ‘I don’t know how it survived everything, but it did. I’m sure she’d give it to you, if you want it.’

‘I don’t’, Haymitch doesn’t hesitate, making her sigh, but she doesn’t say anything more.

After Margret leaves, Effie goes back to frowning again.

‘Just ask’, he tells her.

‘I don’t understand’, is all she says.

‘Did you ever watch my games?’

Effie nods, which doesn’t surprise Haymitch.

‘Maysilee Donner was her best friend. Mayor Undersee’s wife, she was her sister.’

Effie’s not frowning anymore, she just looks incredibly sad.

‘The mockingjay’, Haymitch forces himself to go on, ‘Katniss’ pin, Maysilee had it in the games, too. Madge, the mayor’s daughter, she gave it to Katniss when she was reaped.’

‘Do you believe in fate?’, Effie asks quickly, catching him off guard, so it takes a few seconds for him to answer.

‘I didn’t. But then a stupid girl volunteered and came on the train wearing my dead friend’s pin.’

Effie smiles at that, and he can’t help but return it. She kisses his cheek on the way out of the kitchen, once again pulling on his collar to make him bend down.

‘I’m old, princess’, he grumbles. ‘You’re hurting my back.’

She barks out a laugh, and mockingly pats his cheek. ‘You’ll live.’

Haymitch really doesn’t know how he should react, when Effie does these things.

☆

The next morning, Peeta comes by asking for a cup of coffee. Effie is quick to indulge him, but Haymitch levels him with a look.

‘You’re freaking out, boy.’

And he is. He can’t seem to hold still and he looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulder. He doesn’t look afraid, not exactly, it’s something more like unexplainable panic.

‘She’ll be alright’, Effie says, ‘Katniss is in good hands.’

‘It’s not that’, Peeta shakes his head, looking at Haymitch. ‘She’s talking about children!’, he all but screeches. ‘Why are we talking about children, now? It’s too soon, we’re barely together, for heaven’s sake. Children?!’

Haymitch starts laughing, he can’t help himself.

‘Oh, kid’, he manages to say, before Effie silences him with a gentle slap on the back of his head.

‘Peeta’, Effie said, understandingly. ‘She’s not talking about children because she wants them _now._ ’

‘But that’s the thing!’, Peeta explodes. ‘She doesn’t want kids! Ever! She has never wanted kids, and she doesn’t want them now or in the future! Why are we talking about kids!? We’ve never even-‘

The boy shuts his mouth with a snap, and Haymitch laughs again, at his blush more than anything else.

‘Peeta’, Effie tries again, stifling a laugh. ‘Things changed, drastically. Who says they’re not going to change again?’

Peeta still doesn’t get it.

‘If she doesn’t do this now, there’s a chance it will get worse later on’, Effie says, slowly. ‘There’s a chance she won’t be able to have children. And she might not want to have them now, but she wants to be able to make that choice in the future.’

Peeta takes a deep breath, and runs his hands through his hair.

‘I don’t know how to help’, he whispers, and Effie is by his side in an instant.

‘You can be there for her’, she says strongly. ‘That’s all she needs from you right now. Being there will be enough, trust me.’

‘It’s what she wants, too’, Haymitch adds, and that, finally, makes Peeta nod.

Effie talks to him for a while longer, calming him down, but as soon as the boy leaves, Haymitch grabs her hand, to stop her from leaving his side.

‘Who did you have?’, he asks. ‘By your side, when you went through this.’

‘Finnick’, Effie smiles.

Haymitch mentally curses, letting go of his hold on her. But Effie grabs his chin and makes him look at her.

‘Don’t do that.’, she tells him sternly. ‘I can see the guilt in your eyes, don’t do that. You’re as guilty for what happened to me as you are for what’s happening with Katniss now.’

Haymitch sighs, closing his eyes.

‘Easier said than done.’

‘Well’, Effie lets go and takes a step back, making him look at her again.

‘We don’t have time to deal with your irrational guilt trip’, she tells him point blank. ‘Katniss is going to need us when she comes out of surgery, and Peeta is going to need us while she’s in there. You shouldn’t waste your time thinking about me.’

After she leaves, it hits Haymitch.

A year ago, Effie never crossed his mind when they weren’t together. Now, if he’s not thinking about Katniss or Peeta, he’s thinking about her.

He doesn’t like it. But he thinks he might like her.

☆

Katniss goes into surgery two days later, in the doctor’s kitchen. But her mother is scrubbing in too, and she assures them that everything will be alright.

That doesn’t mean they’re calm. Peeta, Effie and Haymitch all wait outside of the house, the men take turns pacing and Effie keeps bringing them drinks and snacks.

It takes a couple of hours, and when Margret comes out of the house, there’s blood all over her scrubs.

‘She’s fine’, the woman hurries to say. ‘She’s going to be alright. There was internal damage, but Doctor Avery fixed it. Katniss will still be in pain for the next months, until she heals, but he’s certain she’ll make a full recovery.’

Haymitch breathes, for the first time in what feels like forever, and lowers himself to the ground, completely exhausted.

‘I’m too old for this shit.’

‘Language’, Margret doesn’t miss a beat. ‘There are children around.’

Peeta looks at the woman, incredulously. She realizes the stupidity of what she said, but instead of saying something to get out of it, she just looks at Haymitch.

‘Well’, he narrows his eyes, ‘Peeta is the only kid around. And I’m pretty sure he’s going to be the father of your grandchildren, you should really stop seeing him as a child.’

Peeta splutters, turning bright red. Margret just blinks at him. Effie starts laughing, somewhat hysterically. She also crouches down to hug Haymitch, and Katniss’ mother leaves them be, taking Peeta in too see her daughter.

☆

After she woke up, Katniss barely let anyone see her, except for the doctor and for Peeta. She didn’t let Peeta leave her sight, actually, which Haymitch was thankful for.

Effie was the first one Katniss asked to see, and she came out of there sobbing quietly.

‘She’ll be alright’, Effie said when Haymitch got to her side. ‘She’s going to be alright, I’m sure of it.’

Haymitch hugs her until she stops crying, and then he kisses her forehead.

☆

Katniss first got out of bed after two weeks.

She walked further than her garden for the first time after a month.

Three months after surgery, she got off the pain medication.

Effie was still in 12.

☆

After having spent a night awake, thinking about all the things that could go wrong, Haymitch still decides to go through with it. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t.

So when Effie wakes up, after she takes a sip of her coffee, Haymitch comes by her side.

He puts her cup down and steps as close to her as he can get, gently putting both of his hands on her cheeks.

‘What are you doing?’, Effie whispers, watching him with big eyes.

‘Tell me if you want me to stop.’, Haymitch tells her, before taking a deep breath, and kissing her.

He tries to be as gentle as possible, and give her enough time to pull back.

Effie doesn’t pull back, but she doesn’t kiss him either. She freezes, at first, and then she starts shaking.

Haymitch pulls back, and only then does Effie whisper a barely heard ‘stop’, without opening her eyes. He wants to let go of her, stop touching her and put space between them, but Effie grabs his wrists, stopping him.

When she opens her eyes, there are tears in them.

‘I want to’, Effie breathes out, desperately. ‘I really want to, but I can’t.’

‘Well then, princess’, he smiles, intertwining their fingers and guiding them between their bodies.  

‘It looks like you have a choice to make’, Haymitch tells her. ‘You either go back to the Capitol and forget this ever happened, or’, he takes a deep breath and makes sure to look her straight in the eyes as he goes on.

‘Or you stay here, and give this old man a chance. To make you fully trust me.’

Effie smiles, and something settles in Haymitch’s chest.

Of course, that’s when Katniss barges in, already talking about how they were supposed to go for a walk in the woods together. Effie and Haymitch don’t move, and they don’t stop smiling either.

‘I’m interrupting something, aren’t I?’, Katniss says, and they both nod, not looking away from each other.

The girl leaves after that, but soon enough, they hear her scream: ‘Peeta, I just won our bet!’


	6. The Sweater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day six: District 13  
> It means the world to her, when Haymitch gives Effie his sweater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THAT MOTHERFUCKING SWEATER THO

Effie hates District 13.

Well, no, she doesn’t hate that it exists. She doesn’t hate what it stands for, she doesn’t hate what they’re doing.  She respects their ability to survive and thrive for so long without the knowledge of the Capitol, and she is grateful for the help they’re supplying to the rebels.

She is grateful that District 13 accepted her, but she absolutely hates being here.

It’s not even the lack of fashion, of makeup, parties or everything else everybody assumes she misses.

Effie hates the cold.

Everything is cold.

The food is cold. The water is cold, even when she needs it to be so hot it burns her body.

The walls are cold, the gray getting to her in ways she never thought possible.

Her room is cold, and she hates the fact that there aren’t enough blankets in 13 to keep her warm at night.

The clothes are cold. Practical, without any personality, void of colors. She hates that no matter how many of them she layers over her body, she still doesn’t get the warmth she craves for.

The people are cold. Her interactions with command are always professional, devoid of pleasantries. Except for the hug Katniss gave her when they first met in 13, the girl barely pays her any attention most of the time.

Gale is, surprisingly, the only one who shows her some humanity. He smiles when they’re in the same room, and if their paths cross outside of command, he stops for a minute, asks her about her day.

When she meets his littlest sister, Posy, the child says she likes the way Effie wrapped her scarf around her head, that it makes her look a lot more human than when she came in District 12. Effie thanks her, and that gets her a kiss on the cheek. But even that innocent display of affection can’t warm her up.

Effie is always cold. Her hands are shaking, most of the times, and every day, her toes feel like ice.

She hates it. And hates herself for it.

☆

After Katniss agrees to become the Mockingjay, there’s a change of wind.

For one, she has something to do now. She works most of the days away, prepping Katniss and following Cinna’s instructions to a T.

And people start looking her in the eye.

☆

She’s relieved when Haymitch comes back. He looks awful, too thin and too pale, but at least he looks her in the eyes.

Effie has no idea where the flirting came from… Well, that’s a lie. The flirting was always there, from the very first day. It was playful and harmless, or perhaps they kept it just at that because of the Capitol hidden cameras. Those weren’t around anymore.

She’s still cold. And he’s not helping. She doesn’t know why she expected him to.

☆

He finds her late at night, very late at night. She’s in the cafeteria, still pouring over Cinna’s sketches. Katniss and her team are scheduled to leave in the morning for District 8, and Effie will do her best to make everything perfect.

Haymitch sits down next to her, but doesn’t say anything. After a while, Effie closes Cinna’s sketch book, and turns around fully on the bench, regarding him for a while.

He looks old, older than he should. His eyes show no emotion, and that scares Effie.

She can’t help but notice that he’s also wearing a lot more layers of clothes than he should. And the beanie is a dead giveaway that he’s cold. Must be a side effect from the withdrawal, she thinks.

‘How are you feeling?’, she asks cautiously.

‘Terrible’, Haymitch doesn’t even look at her, as he quickly answers. ‘You?’

‘Cold’, that makes him look at her, slightly amused.

‘I can’t believe you’re here’, Haymitch says, catching her off guard.

‘Yes, well’, Effie straightens her back, ‘I was informed it was your idea.’

‘And I stand by it’. He nods, then crosses his hands over the table and puts his head on them.

He’s exhausted, clearly, the type of tiredness that doesn’t pass with a night’s sleep. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try.

‘You should sleep, Haymitch.’

He shakes his head, slightly. ‘I’m in a room with Beetee. It’s not safe for us to be sleeping at the same time.’

She doesn’t ask, she figures two victors with nightmares aren’t a good match behind closed door.

‘You want to nap on the table?’, she asks instead, a bit amused.

‘Sounds fine’, Haymitch yawns. ‘After you leave.’

Effie has been hearing this for years, it’s not something new, Haymitch never sleeps when she’s around. She wonders if he still has a knife on himself at all times, but doesn’t ask. She doesn’t leave, either.

Instead, Effie slowly readjusts herself, until their sides are pressed together, until she can rest her head on his shoulder. The sweater he’s wearing is surprisingly soft to the touch, and she can’t help but move her cheek a few times, pressing the fabric into her skin.

He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t move a muscle. Some people come inside the mess hall some time later, but they still don’t move.

Her head moves with every breath he takes, and Effie hates herself for how comfortable she feels. She shouldn’t have this luxury.

‘Why are you shaking?’, he finally asks after a long time, still not moving.

‘I can’t seem to get warm.’, Effie admits. ‘Ever since the hovercraft took us from the Training Center.’

‘That’s probably shock’, he says, not unkindly.

Effie scoffs. ‘I’ve had enough time to get over the shock.’

Haymitch snorts. ‘War is not something you just get over.’

He stirs then, and Effie reluctantly moves away. Haymitch doesn’t say anything when he gets up, and Effie reluctantly goes back to Cinna’s sketches.

So it’s a surprise, when she feels something on her shoulders. It doesn’t take long to realize that it’s Haymitch, wrapping her in his sweater.

Effie’s too shocked to turn to look at him.

Haymitch turns her head to the side, slowly and with a lot more gentleness than she thought he was capable of. He kisses her cheek, and she can’t see his face, but for some reason, she doesn’t think she’d want to.

‘Get some sleep, princess’, Haymitch says softly, softer than ever before, and Effie doesn’t dare turn to look at him as he leaves.

☆

She starts wearing the sweater. It’s the only thing that brings her some warmth, and it means something, of course it does, but Effie doesn’t have the luxury to think of that.

But, she’s still playing a part, so she modifies the sweater to suit her needs, and her fashion sense.

He doesn’t say anything of it.

☆

When Katniss and her team are getting ready to leave for the Capitol, Effie keeps herself together, for their sake.

But as soon as the hovercraft takes off, she’s running to her room, tears of desperation already on her face.

It doesn’t take long for Haymitch to come to her. He doesn’t even bother knocking, he just comes in and locks the door behind himself, before taking off his shoes and joining her on the bed.

Haymitch holds her as she weeps, softly running his fingers through her hair and reminding her to breath. He doesn’t fill the silence with useless words, doesn’t tell her that everything will be okay. He just holds her.

Effie doesn’t know how long it takes for her to calm down, but as soon as she does, Haymitch uses the sleeve of his blouse to wipe her face.

Then, he takes his clothes off.

It’s not the first time they have sex. But it’s the first time he’s completely sober, and it’s the first time she doesn’t do it because she’s bored.

It’s the first time she needs it. She thinks he needs it too.

And it’s different.

Haymitch is slow, he undresses her like they have all the time in the world. He caresses her body and kisses her skin, and Effie feels like she is with another man.

In some way, Haymitch is another man now than he was a year ago, two, five years ago. Effie liked that man. She thinks she might be able to fall in love with this man.

And later, when she’s tired and mellow, and Haymitch doesn’t leave, when he holds her close and runs his fingers through her hair, Effie is certain she’s falling for Haymitch, probably has been for a long time.

She’s not cold anymore, in his arms.

☆

When Beetee knocks on her door, he knows Haymitch is there, so he informs them both that there’s news and that they’re expected in command.

Effie reluctantly gets out of bed, gets dressed and wraps her scarf around her head. Haymitch helps her get into his sweater, and she kisses him one last time, as sweetly as she can. He holds her tightly and responds in kind.

When Effie opens the door, she has her head held high. She’s warm, she’s terrified for her friends, and she has Haymitch’s hand in hers. She’s prepared to face whatever this war throws at her.

Even Beetee’s surprisingly excited chuckles, and the high-five he insists on sharing with Haymitch. 


	7. I love you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day seven: Fluff  
> It took Effie some time to leave the Capitol. A year and a half after the war ended, actually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're going out with a bang! 6000 bangs. Words, that is. Idk if it's sufficiently fluffy, but here you go!  
> This week has been fun. So much fun. Thank you for reading! :)

It took Effie some time to leave the Capitol. A year and a half after the war ended, actually.

Haymitch was glad for it, because by the time she came along to 12, the kids were better. They weren’t screaming every night, and they started acting like the stupidly in love teenagers they were.

He was better, too. He didn’t drink himself to sleep every night, and he wasn’t as angry anymore, he hasn’t been this calm since before his Games.

And he missed Effie. Hot damn, he missed her.

It’s been a year and a half since they’ve seen each other, and lord help him, Haymitch missed Effie.

She exchanged letters with Peeta, and the boy always told Haymitch about them, told him that Effie was doing well, working for Plutarch, adjusting to the new Capitol.

His phone rung, sometimes, and Haymitch knew it was her. He never answered.

When Peeta told him that Effie will be moving to 12, Haymitch felt like his brain short wired. But Katniss was watching him with an interested expression, and Peeta looked like he already figured something out, so Haymitch shook his head and boldly told the kids that Effie will be staying with him.

‘That’s actually a great idea’, Peeta said. ‘It wouldn’t be good for Effie to be here on our bad nights.’

‘Sure’, Katniss said, not once taking her eyes off Haymitch.

He sighed and went back to his house.

☆

To be fair, Effie wanted to leave the Capitol immediately. But it was easier said than done.

At first, she had to stay to take care of Peeta. Then, he kept saying that they weren’t okay, that Katniss, Haymitch and himself still needed time, that they weren’t safe. To fill her days, she started working for Plutarch, and then he didn’t let her leave.

But a year and a half after the war ended, she couldn’t take it anymore. There were too many bad memories in the Capitol, and she missed her team. So she announced Plutarch she was leaving, and didn’t hear his pleas.

☆

Even though she didn’t let anyone know exactly when she was coming, and even though there was barely any daylight when the train arrived, there is a young man named Thom waiting for her, alongside a car.

He explains, that he was paid to just get the weekly supplies for the Victors, but that Peeta told him she would be coming along, at one point.  Effie’s grateful for the help, she doesn’t have as many possessions as before, but three suitcases are still too much for her to carry.

Thom helps her get the bags into Haymitch’s house, where she will be apparently staying. He then informs her that he’s probably over at Katniss’ house, they usually have breakfast together.

So Effie freshens herself a bit as fast as she can, doesn’t bother unpacking, just grabs the bag of gifts that she brought with her, and goes over to Katniss’ house. Which is empty.

She finds them all in the back yard, sitting around a table, eating breakfast. Katniss and Haymitch have their backs turned to her, so she only sees Peeta, who is in the middle of telling some story.

Of course, he is the first to notice her, and he freezes completely, in the middle of a word. Then he bolts out of his chair and runs to her, Effie barely having time to put the bag on the ground, until Peeta hugs her tightly.

She starts crying, but really, how could she not?

‘Don’t cry, Effie’, Peeta says, chuckling slightly, still holding on to her. ‘You’ll ruin your makeup.’

She snorts. ‘I’m not wearing any makeup.’

At that, Peeta lets go of her, so that he can see her face.

‘You’re pretty’, he frowns after a few seconds, and it’s Katniss’ turn to snort. She also shoves him aside, and hugs Effie just as tightly as Peeta did.

‘Are you really staying?’, she asks as she pulls away, and Effie nods as she wipes away her tears.

‘In that case’, Peeta comes back to their side, ‘let’s have breakfast’.

‘I brought coffee’, Effie says, handing the bag she brought to Peeta. ‘And other gifts, it’s mostly food.’

‘Gummy bears!’, Peeta all but screeches, running inside with the bag.

Effie finally turns to look at Haymitch. He hasn’t even gotten up from his chair, and he isn’t showing any signs of emotions.

Still, she lifts an eyebrow and addresses him. ‘Are you still drinking?’

That makes him scoff, but Katniss answers.

‘Not much. A glass if he feels like it, two or three if he needs it to sleep.’

‘In that case’, Effie winks at Haymitch. ‘There’s a bottle of very expensive whiskey in your kitchen.’

Haymitch doesn’t thank her, but there is a slight hint of a smile on his face.

‘And on that note’, he gets up from his chair, ‘I’m gonna go get your room ready.’

‘I’ll help’, Effie doesn’t miss a beat.

‘No, you will not’, Haymitch rolls his eyes. ‘Have breakfast with the kids, we’ll’, he waves a hand, ‘catch up later.’

He’s gone soon after, and when Effie turns back, she’s startled by the way Katniss is watching her. She seems curious, excited a bit. It’s disconcerting. Katniss doesn’t say anything, though, she just piles Effie’s plate with food.

As they eat, the children talk about District 12. About how much it’s changed, how hard they’re still working on rebuilding it. They talk about the people who live here now, how different they seem now that they’re free.

And that’s the thing that Effie’s most scared of. Everything is different. She is different, too. She just hopes she’ll be able to live in 12, and she hopes the people will be able to accept her too.

Especially Haymitch, who even though offered his guest room for as long as needed, was acting off.

But all doubts leave Effie’s mind when she gets back to Haymitch’s house. He wasn’t in, and her bags weren’t where she left them. Instead, they’re in a guest room on the first floor. The room is clean, the bed is made, the window is open. Her bags were left empty in a corner, and her clothes were put away in drawers.

There was even a pajama on the end of the bed, which was hers, but Haymitch also gave her one of his sweaters, dark green and very soft from wear. She doesn’t hesitate in putting it on, it’s chilly in the room.

Effie falls asleep to the sound of the geese being fed, Haymitch yelling profanities at them.

☆

When Effie wakes up, the sun isn’t out anymore and she is famished.  Confused and still sleepy, she doesn’t bother changing out of her pajama before making her way downstairs. Haymitch is in the kitchen, grilling something.

‘Oh, you’re up’, he says, without even turning around to look at her. ‘I was going to wake you up in a minute, you’ve been asleep for 20 some hours.’

Effie sits down in a chair, blinking weary upon seeing that it is set, with plates and glasses and a bread basket.

‘I must have been more exhausted than I thought.’

Haymitch snorts, turning off the stove and finally turning around. He doesn’t look at Effie, though, he just piles both of their plates with omelets.

‘I didn’t know you could cook’, Effie says, staring at the food in her plate, at the chopped mushrooms and onions and tomatoes.

‘There are a lot of things you don’t know about me’, he says, pouring them something that smells like grape juice. After he sits down across the table from Effie, he smirks, finally looking at her. ‘But I guess you’ll find out now, won’t you, roomie?’

He laughs at that, even if Effie scrunches up her nose. She starts eating, and it is a silent affair for a while, but half way through, she realizes there is something she never said, and she really needs to.

‘Thank you’, she says softly, startling Haymitch. ‘For letting me stay here. And for taking me to 13. And for taking care of me for all those years.’

He just stares at her, for a long time. His mouth is slightly open, and his eyes are comically wide. Finally, he visibly shakes himself, leaning back in the chair.

‘What’s wrong with you?’, he asks, genuinely curious.

It makes the snappy resort she had die on her tongue. Instead, Effie goes back to eating.

‘No, really’, Haymitch insists. ‘What the hell was that?’

‘Gratitude’, Effie all but spits out the word, the strength of it clearly startling Haymitch. She wills herself to calm down.

‘We’ve all changed, Haymitch. So don’t expect me to be the same Effie you’re accustomed to.’

He eyes her weary. What he says, makes Effie burst out laughing.

‘Will I like this Effie better?’

‘Oh, Haymitch.’, she shakes her head, still giggling. ‘That only implies you liked me before.’

He narrows his eyes, but doesn’t say anything, so Effie moves past it.

‘Some things will never change’, she explains. ‘For example, I do plan on cleaning the house, and I will surely end up yelling at you to shower.’

He pulls a face at that, and it makes her laugh again, but when she speaks next, she doesn’t look at him.

‘But, on some nights, I’ll also wake up screaming.’

Haymitch snorts. ‘Don’t think you’re special, there’s plenty of that going around.’

‘Right, well. Thank you for dinner’, is all she can think of saying. ‘I’ll cook tomorrow.’

‘Are you still tired?’, is what he says, and it takes a few beats for Effie to shake her head.

‘Let’s go for a walk then.’, he gets up, without leaving any room for discussion. Not that she was going to discuss it, a walk sounded lovely.

So Effie quickly went upstairs to get dressed.

☆

It was still chilly outside, so as they walked away from the Victor’s Village, Effie put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and buried her hose under the scarf she had wrapped around her neck.

Haymitch snickered, but didn’t say anything.

Effie saw how different 12 was on the ride from the train. But now, late at night, it was absolutely astonishing.

There was so much light, it shocked her. There were street posts that let out a soft yellow glow, creating shadows on the road. The houses, even though she couldn’t see them too clearly, were lived in. That was the sense she got from 12, it was lived, alive. There were shoes on the stairs, clothes drying in the yard. There were flowers and animals, and there were some houses that still had light in them, despite the late hour.

At one point, there was a man sitting on a rocking chair in front of one of the houses. He was old, with a long gray beard. As they passed in front of him, the old man tipped an imaginary hat at Haymitch, and to Effie’s immense surprise, Haymitch actually smiled as he returned the gesture.

‘He’s a teacher’, he tells her when they are far enough that the man doesn’t hear. ‘Math, and physics and stuff like that. He’s so old, I had him in school. I can’t believe he made it.’

‘He must be strong’, Effie agrees. ‘You all are.’

‘Give yourself some credit, princess’, Haymitch snorts.

‘I do’, she smiles. ‘But I’ve got nothing on them’, she points back to the row of houses.

Haymitch says something under his breath, that she doesn’t understand, but then he grabs Effie’s hand and drags her into another direction.

It’s only when they get to the square that Effie realizes he didn’t let go of her hand. She doesn’t care, she’s too busy staring.

The square is unrecognizable. It’s clear that they put a lot of effort into rebuilding it, and into making it nothing alike the last one.

There’s a big building, still under construction, that must be the new District Hall, but beyond that, there are a lot of shops, some small, some larger. Most of them aren’t open yet, but the ones that are, they have colorful signs and witty names.

In the middle of the square, where a wiping post once stood, there are several benches, and a few swings.

When Effie sees those, she turns to look at Haymitch, who’s watching her amused. Effie screeches and lets go of his hand in favor of running to one of the swings.

Haymitch makes his way to her side, slowly. When he leans against the frame, Effie has already caught some speed and height.

‘How old are you?’, Haymitch says, seemingly incredulous.

‘I wasn’t allowed in swings since I was 8. It wasn’t proper for a girl of my social status.’

The eye roll that Haymitch throws her is overly dramatic and equally hilarious to Effie. So she doesn’t control the giggles. He does, however, make his way to sit on the swing next to her, but he doesn’t do much beyond that.

They’re silent for a while, but neither of them gets up, even after Effie stops swinging like a maniac.

‘Am I going to be okay here?’, she finds herself asking.

Haymitch turns to look at her, but she doesn’t look back, keeping her eyes trained on the buildings in front of her.

‘Probably’, he says after a while. ‘It’s a good of a place as any.’

‘No’, Effie shakes her head. ‘I didn’t send every district’s children to die.’

She hears Haymitch sigh, and then she feels his hand on her knee. Effie stares at it, still unable to look at him.

‘Everybody who lives here is a survivor’, Haymitch says slowly. ‘And so are you. They’ll understand.’ He takes his hand away. ‘And if they don’t, then the kids and I will make them understand.’

They stay there, in silence, for the rest of the night. When the sun comes up, Haymitch wordlessly takes her hand and they head back together to the Village, going straight to Katniss’ house, where Peeta is already cooking. He smiles at them, doesn’t even ask why Effie is shaking and why Haymitch keeps sneezing. Peeta just gives them a hot cup of tea and tells them to be more careful in the future.

Katniss, however, who comes to the kitchen five minutes later, she stares at them for a long while, until Haymitch snaps at her.

‘Sorry’, she says, but it’s clear that she’s not. ‘I was just thinking that Peeta and I never asked about the two of you.’

‘What about the two of us?’, Haymitch narrows his eyes.

Katniss shrugs, faking nonchalance. ‘How long have you two known each other?’

Effie and Haymitch share a look. They’re both weary, at first, but then he raises an eyebrow. It looks playful, but challenging.

‘How about you take this one?’, he winks at Effie. ‘I’ll just… complete you if you miss anything.’

It’s a trap, Effie thinks. But Katniss and Peeta are both looking expectantly at her, so she starts to tell the story of how she and Haymitch met.

‘The former escort introduced us’, Effie starts by saying. ‘I told him that I was very pleased to meet him, and I was, in my naivety.’ She smiles at him, briefly. ‘I always admired him, because of the strength he showed in his games. So of course’, Effie rolls her eyes, ‘he was drunk. First, he tells me I have a glorious rack, then he asks me if I’m ready to send children to the butchers.’

‘I have no recollection of this’, Haymitch points out, frowning heavily.

‘As I said’, Effie shares a look with Peeta and Katniss. ‘You were drunk. And it was the year before I started working as your Escort.’

‘If you don’t remember this’, Peeta asks around a grin, ‘what do you remember as your first meeting?’

It’s Haymitch’s turn to grin. ‘She came early, to remind me it was Reaping day. She found me sleeping on the couch. Naked.’

Peeta starts laughing, Katniss looks like she wants to, and Effie sighs, heavily.

‘How long ago was that?’, Katniss asks. ‘I don’t remember ever seeing anybody else at the Reaping.’

‘The Quell was my 13th year’, Effie says with a heavy heart. It brings silence over the table.

‘That’s a long time to put up with Haymitch’, Peeta says, managing to bring up the mood.

‘It wasn’t all horrible’, Effie says around a smile, refusing to look at him. ‘There were times when we both managed to forget why we were really there.’

‘Like that time you threw Chaff into a pool’, Haymitch says.

‘Or when the first year after he won, Finnick followed you around like a lost puppy’, Effie counters.

‘When Joanna spilled wine on your dress.’

‘When Cashmere gave you a black eye because you slapped her behind’, Effie can’t help but chuckle.

‘When you let Cinna dress you for a party’, Haymitch was full on laughing, ‘and he chose a simple black dress.’

‘The year that cat followed you around, and nobody wanted to help you get rid of it’.

‘Mini-Mitch’, Haymitch all but yells, still laughing. ‘They called it Mini-Mitch.’

‘Oh!’, Effie gasps. ‘Remember that Escort, from district 7? The one that fancied you? What was her name, Lilly, Lilith?’

‘What about that game maker?’, Haymitch counters. ‘The one that asked you to marry him before he even introduced himself?’

They were both laughing hysterically by this point, and it took a while for them to calm down. When they did, Peeta and Katniss were staring, with their jaws dropped.

‘Well, thank you for breakfast’, Haymitch says breezily. ‘But we should go now, we’re both very tired.’

Effie wordlessly follows him out the door, leaving behind a still shocked Katniss and Peeta.

☆

The first time Effie wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, Haymitch doesn’t come rushing into her room.

But in the morning, when she wakes up again, he’s snoring in the armchair next to her bed.

☆

Days go by. They almost always have breakfast at Katniss’ house, even when she’s out hunting, and Effie and Haymitch take turns making dinner.

She cleans the house, it takes her a whole week, but he doesn’t make a mess of it afterwards.

Effie adjusts, but as he is far too happy to point out, she never goes into town. So he takes matters into his own hands, loudly announcing one day that they’re going out for dinner.

She knows better than to argue.

☆

Haymitch takes her to the square, where one of the bigger buildings is owned by Greasy Sae.

He explains, that calling it a restaurant is going too far, and that most people still don’t have the money to eat out. But the government pays her to make food for the workers that are still building the district, so she gets by. Sometimes, they have visitors, tourists, so Greasy Sae set up a few guest rooms upstairs. It’s not a hotel, but people from other districts seem to be pleased.

Effie’s heart starts beating faster as they get closer to the door, but Haymitch’s hand on her lower back keeps pushing her forward. Nobody bats an eye when they walk in, and Effie feels relieved beyond belief.

The food is good, much better than either of them ever make, and Greasy Sae is very stern about only allowing Haymitch a glass of wine. By the time they get to desert, some sort of crème brûlée with sour berries, Effie’s face hurts from all the smiling.

Haymitch wordlessly heads to the swings after they leave Greasy Sae’s, much to Effie’s pleasure. They stay there until the cold gets to them.

On their way home, Effie can’t help but wrap her arms around Haymitch’s, pressing their sides together. He grumbles something under his breath, but doesn’t push her away.

They’re half way through, when Haymitch asks.

‘Are you regretting this yet?’

‘What?’, Effie frowns.

‘Moving here.’

It takes a few good minutes for her to gather her thoughts, but Haymitch doesn’t press. When Effie talks, it’s not hard to say the words, but it is difficult to not start crying.

‘I would never regret it. Not if everybody in town would have hated me, not if they would throw rocks at me, not if I’d have to live in the woods or work as a builder. I’d never regret it, because I’d be here with you and the kids.’

‘We’re that important?’, Haymitch asks, clearly dubious.

‘You’re the most important things’, Effie chuckles. ‘I don’t have anything else left, Haymitch. My family is long gone, my friends were never anything more than brainless… I was never happy in the Capitol. I was just a puppet that didn’t know better.’

‘And this is better?’, he stops walking so he could look at her.

Effie smiles. ‘I love you, you know.’

Haymitch just blinks at her, prompting her to chuckle.

‘And the kids’, she adds. ‘Any place where you are is better than the alternative. And it really does mean the world’, she pauses long enough to kiss his cheek, ‘that you’ve accepted me here.’

‘Well, we are a team, as far as I was informed’, Haymitch rolls his eyes. It’s the last thing either of them says that night.

☆

Plutarch keeps calling, trying to make Effie convince the Victors to do some interviews. After the 5th call, Effie tells him to shove his camera up where the sun doesn’t shine. That gets her a kiss on the forehead from Haymitch.

☆

Sometime during her second month in 12, Effie wakes up one night to Haymitch screaming.

He never does that, no matter how ugly the nightmares get. But he is screaming now, yelling for Maysilee.

Effie goes to his room, relieved in seeing that he doesn’t have a knife on him. She can’t wake him up, though, nothing she tries works. In the end, she settles beside him in bed, holding him as tightly as she can.

She whispers to him, words of love and comfort, but Haymitch doesn’t wake up. When he does calm down, when his breathing evens out again and the shaking stops, his head is pushed into the crook of her neck and his fingers are digging bruises into her hip.

Effie doesn’t leave.

In the morning, Haymitch brings her pancakes in bed. His bed.

☆

Effie has been there for four months, when Johanna and Annie come to visit, bringing along little Finn.

Peeta and Katniss still don’t think they’re safe, so while they let Johanna sleep at their house, Annie and Finn stay with Effie and Haymitch.

While they’re all glad, that Annie and Johanna are doing well, nothing compares with having Finn around. He is an adorable child, with Finnick’s eyes and Annie’s hair color, and his simple presence in the room brings a smile to everybody’s face.

Katniss and Peeta are always together when they play with him and his toys, and Finn seems to enjoy playing with her hair.

Effie’s best play time activity is picking Finn up and dancing around with him, making up songs on the spot. For her troubles, she is always regarded with screeches and baby hands on her face.

Haymitch, however, keeps his distance. Until one evening, when Finn crawls to the armchair he’s sitting in, and grabs onto Haymitch’s pants leg to pull himself onto his feet. He babbles something, while Haymitch watches him wearily, not moving a muscle.

‘He wants you to pick him up’, Annie says, grinning wildly.

‘No’, Haymitch tells Finn, to which the baby smiles, screeching happily.

‘No’, Haymitch tells Finn again, but they all see that he’s wavering.

To this, Finn wraps his hands around Haymitch’s leg, hugging it.

‘Damn, boy’, Haymitch sighs, ‘you’re just as stubborn as your dad.’

But he picks Finn up, much to his pleasure, and he sets the boy down in his lap. He squirms for a bit, much to Haymitch’s displeasure, but eventually, Finn ends up curled up against the older man’s chest, as Haymitch very hesitantly wraps his hands around the boy, making sure he doesn’t fall.

Everybody else is staring, and Haymitch looks like he wants to curse at them, but all he says is ‘Shut up.’

‘You’re cute’, Effie can’t help but say.

‘Uncle Haymitch’, Peeta says pointedly, making everybody laugh. Except Haymitch, of course. He just mumbles under his breath. Until Finn puts his little hands over his mouth, effectively stopping him.

Effie is delighted to see that over the next days, Haymitch doesn’t keep away from Finn anymore. Every time the boy would demand it, Haymitch would pick him up without any complains. He even changed his diapers.  Haymitch was teased about it, especially by Katniss and Johanna, but Effie never said a word.

One day, she goes into the living room to find Haymitch laying on the floor, with Finn soundly asleep on his chest.

‘I didn’t want to wake Annie up’, he whispers, ‘but he needed a diaper change.’

Effie can’t really find words to answer to that, so she wordlessly putters around for a while, putting a pillow under Haymitch’s head, covering them both with a blanket. And then she lies on the floor next to Haymitch.

‘Really?’, he whispers in a playful tone.

‘Shhh’, Effie counters. ‘It’s nap time now.’

She doesn’t actually fall asleep, but closes her eyes nonetheless.

Later, Annie joins them on the floor, and after Finn wakes up, they all play with him for a while.

After they leave, Katniss levels Haymitch with a look.

‘I understand why you never had children before. But things aren’t so bad anymore.’

Haymitch glares. ‘Sweetheart, you’re in no position to talk.’ But he looks at Peeta as he says it.

‘Oh no’, he shakes his head, backing away slowly. ‘I’m not getting into this conversation again.’

‘I’m not getting into this conversation ever’, Haymitch tells Katniss.

‘Fine’, she rolls her eyes. The girl looks at Effie, then, and she is once again a bit scared by the way Katniss is looking at her.

‘Oh no’, Effie finds herself saying. ‘I’m not having Hamitch’s children.’ She turns to look at him, just as his jaw drops and his cheeks turn red.

‘I do love you’, she tells him around a wince, ‘but just the thought of a baby as stubborn as you gives me a migraine.’

She leaves the room before anybody else responds.

☆

Effie is very excited when Katniss invites them to the lake. It’s a bit of a hike to get there, and it takes them a while, but it’s completely worth it.

The lake is beautiful, and the clearing it’s in surrounds it with large trees and beautiful flowers, that Effie has never seen before. It’s a very sunny day, and they set their blankets in a spot that is bathing in it.

Upon request, Annie has sent bathing suits for them all. Dark colored shorts for the boys, and one piece suits for the girl. Of course, Effie has a bright pink one, while Katniss has a dark green one.

The two of them are equally excited to get into the water, while Haymitch keeps grumbling that he’s too old, and Peeta keeps saying that he can’t swim.

The women leave them be and get into the water. It’s cold, but not unbearable, so Effie doesn’t hesitate in sinking herself completely in it.

When she emerges, Katniss is grinning at her. It melts Effie’s heart, because she looks like she doesn’t have a care in the world.

‘Race you to the other end?’, is what Effie finds herself saying. Katniss gets a very particular look in her eyes, challenging and playful, but she doesn’t acknowledge Effie’s request, she just takes off.

Effie spares a few seconds, whining about cheating, but follows her quickly. As quickly as she can.

Effie wins the race, much to everybody’s shock. They don’t race back, opting to swim side by side at a leisure pace. When they get to the bank where they left the boys, Peeta is in the water. Katniss doesn’t stop until she’s plastered to his back, hugging him like an octopus.

They look like children, happily in love, and it warms Effie’s heart. So much so, that she has to get out of there. She doesn’t race this time either, swimming back and forth between the two banks at a comfortable pace.

Haymitch joins her after two runs. He matches his pace to hers, and they don’t say anything for the better part of an hour, just swimming side by side, their hands or legs bumping every now and then.

The kids are still splashing around in the water when they come out, and Effie and Haymtich share a smile.

☆

She doesn’t know when she falls asleep. But when she wakes up, there’s a thin sheet covering her and Haymitch is lying on his back next to her.

He doesn’t open his eyes when he speaks.

‘The kids went for a walk. I covered you up before you got burned.’

‘They seem happy’, Effie says, and Haymitch smiles.

‘They’re as happy as they can get.’

Effie sniffles.

Still without opening his eyes, Haymitch lazily lifts up a hand, whispering a very soft ‘come here’. Effie doesn’t hesitate, in bringing her body close to his, resting her head on his chest. His hand comes around her shoulders, and he doesn’t argue when she covers them both with the sheet.

‘I love you’, Effie says, closing her eyes too.

‘You keep saying that’, Haymitch mumbles, making her smile.

‘I’ve spent 15 years too afraid to say it. Indulge me.’

Haymitch snorts at that, but doesn’t say anything else. It’s not long before she falls asleep again.

☆

When she wakes up this time, it’s to Haymitch snoring next to her ear, Peeta sitting across from them, drawing them in his sketchbook, and Katniss grinning like crazy.

‘Fake-mommy and fake-daddy are cute together’, she says, and it takes a few beats for Effie to understand whom she’s referring to.

‘Don’t let him hear you say that’, is what Effie says, slowly detaching herself from Haymitch. ‘He’ll kill you.’

‘So you’re not denying it’, Peeta points out.

‘Oh I’m denying it’, Effie nods. ‘I just know it’s useless, considering how stubborn Katniss is.’

The girls scoffs at that, but it just makes Effie smile. She gets up from the blanket, and tries waking Haymitch up by shoving at him with her toes, but of course it doesn’t work.

What does end up working, in the end, is Effie yelling in his year that ‘it’s a big big day tomorrow’. Haymitch curses her, but she just tells him that she wants to swim some more, and he wordlessly follows her into the lake.

An hour later, Katniss and Peeta somehow rope them into a water fight, and as she was struggling to get away from Haymitch, whose sole purpose seemed to be to getting her under water, Effie couldn’t help but think that moving to 12 was the best thing she ever did.

☆

Six months after she moved to 12, the District Hall was finished, and the mayor offered her a job as his executive assistant.

Effie accepted it, because she liked working, and this is what she was good at.

She still had breakfast with the kids and dinner with Haymitch, but she spent the time in between at the District Hall, doing what she did best.

The mayor made her feel welcomed, and he acted like her friend, not her boss. It was a very nice feeling, and she felt a sense of accomplishment, working, doing something.

In her own way, Effie was finally helping District 12.

She was happy.

☆

Seven months after she moved to 12, Katniss and Peeta got married.

Effie was very emotional, not during the ceremony at the District Hall, not during the toasting done at their house, not during the small party in their back yard, but during the time in which she helped Katniss get ready.

She helped with her hair, letting Katniss braid it expertly, but pinning it up for her in a complicated bun. And even though Katniss was weary at first, she let Effie do her make.

It was a simple affair, glowing skin and a pink stain on her lips. But on her eyes, Effie used a dark green eyeliner, creating a thin line on Katniss’ eyelids, that ended in a small arrow head.

The first thing Katniss said was ‘This isn’t very wedding appropriate.’

The second thing was ‘I love it.’

The third thing was ‘Peeta is going to laugh.’

That’s when Effie started crying, and Katniss didn’t hesitate in hugging her.

‘They’re happy tears’, Effie said, feeling the need to explain. ‘I am so happy for you.’

‘I’m glad you’re here’, Katniss said as she pulled away. ‘I know we’ve never seen eye to eye, but I do care about you a lot.’

Effie couldn’t say anything even if she wanted to.

‘And I don’t know what you’re doing with Haymitch’, Katniss awkwardly winked, ‘but keep doing it. He seems happy. Well, as happy as he’ll ever get.’

Effie laughed out loud at that. There were a lot of words on the tip of her tongue, a lot of different explanations, but she didn’t say any of them.

‘It’s a big, big day, Katniss’, is what she said, very softly. ‘It’s the first day of the rest of your life, and I’m so happy to be by your side.’

☆

Haymitch didn’t leave her side throughout the festivities. She didn’t mind, of course, especially not when he awkwardly asked her to dance. Not when he held her tightly, swaying in tune with the music. Not when they both ignored the catcalls around them, especially Johanna’s.

Not when Haymitch’s reaction to Effie telling him ‘I love you, old man’ was to dip her, very close to the ground, still holding onto her tightly as he cackled somewhat manically.

☆

Two months later, Effie wakes up with an epiphany.

She doesn’t know when it actually happened, she didn’t realize it at the time, but somehow, along the weeks, she moved into Haymitch’s room.

Effie slept in his bed, her clothes were in his dresser, her skin care products were in his bathroom, she had her side of the bed and her books were on the nightstand.

There were bad nights, when nightmares grabbed a hold of either of them, but they got through them by holding each other tightly.

She’d wake up in his arms some mornings, and he’d whine when she’d leave his side to get ready for the day.

It felt normal.

So on that morning, when she stopped him before going out the door, when she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly on the lips, it felt normal.

Haymitch wasn’t surprised. Effie watched him closely, as he swallowed thickly, as he ran his tongue over his lips, as he stared at hers. Then, Haymitch smiled, and bent down to kiss her again, a bit longer, but not by much.

‘Come on, princess’, he smiled. ‘The kids are waiting and I’m hungry.’

☆

Effie tells him ‘I love you’ sometimes. He never responds, but he does show his love.

He holds her hand while they’re walking side by side. He kisses her every morning, before getting out of bed. He gives her foot rubs after long days. He brings her flowers for no reason. He always stops drinking when she asks him to.

After almost 20 years, he still calls her ‘princess’. Only now, it’s sometimes ‘my princess’.

☆

When Haymitch does finally tell Effie ‘I love you’, he’s holding Katniss and Peeta’s first child and there are tears in his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> I'M SO EXCITED! HAYFFIE WEEK 2015 WOOHOO! 
> 
> For more information, check out [this post](http://akachankami.tumblr.com/post/126538324308/hello-shippers-this-is-hayffie-week-prompt).
> 
> These will mostly be compliant with the movies, but I don't know. I've read the books, and I've read a lot of fanfiction after, and it's a mess in my head, what happened in the movies, in the books, what didn't happen at all. Either way, I quite like how these turned out! It's the first time I'm writing Hunger Games fics, tho, keep that in mind!
> 
> Each drabble will have a bit of a cover, and a matching post to go with it on tumblr.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy these as much as I enjoyed writing them! (HAVE I MENTIONED I'M HELLA EXCITED?!)


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